Catalyst, CaseCentral Among EDD Vendors Targeted by 'Patent Troll'

http://ow.ly/9Q3oO

An article by Evan Koblentz posted on law.com on the LTN webpage.

This article discusses recent patent suits filed against eDiscovery service providers Catalyst and CaseCentral, among others, by an entity named Lone Star Document Management.

The article states, "Notable defendants include CaseCentral, which is currently being acquired by Guidance Software; Catalyst Repository Systems; Digital Reef; Gallivan, Gallivan & O'Melia; and Trial Solutions of Texas, which functions under the Cloud Nine Discovery banner. Other e-discovery defendants are Atalasoft, Breeze, Business Intelligence Associates, and Lexbe.

The U.S. patent is 6,918,082, Electronic Document Proofing System, filed in 1998 and granted in 2005. Its inventors are Jeffrey M. Gross and Matthew H. Parker, both of Brooklyn, New York. Neither could be reached for comment. A person at Lone Star's registered business address in Plano, Texas, said the location is a series of subcontracted suites and that Lone Star does not rent one, but rather has its mail forwarded to Gross. Attorneys at Dallas-based McDole, Kennedy & Williams, which represents Lone Star, did not return messages.

John Tredennick, CEO of Catalyst, said he intends to fight the suit -- but he recognizes that settling could be done for less than $100,000, while fighting could cost millions.

"We're studying it. I have not been served yet. So obviously we have to take a hard look at the patent and the complaint. But it looks to me like a case of patent trolls," he said, in Denver."