NRT Technologies, a Canadian company with offices in Las Vegas, has claimed another major victory in a legal dispute with Everi, a Las Vegas-based technology company formerly known as Global Cash Access.
On May 23, the International Trade Commission in Washington affirmed an earlier ruling an administrative judge that denied Everi’s allegations that NRT infringed on its patent on a process by which allows ATM users to access their cash even after exceeding their daily withdrawal limit. The ITC has twice now found the Everi patent to be invalid.
“This decision effectively ends the investigation on the patent claims that we had at the ITC,” said Colby Springer, a principal at Polsinelli LLP, which represented NRT in this matter. Springer specializes in intellectual property and technology litigation. “It confirms the initial decision by the administrative law judge that the patent was invalid. …
“Everi brought the patent case, but we’ve always relied on the quality of our products to speak for themselves. We haven’t correlated the patent case to our growth.”
In its ruling, the ITC noted that “Everi has not argued any error in … determination of the level of skill in the art” and that “NRT demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the claim language, when read in light of the specification and prosecution history, fails to inform, with reasonable certainty, those skilled in the art about the scope of the invention.” Specifically, the ITC found the Everi patent to be “ambiguous,” according to a NRT press release.
NRT also claimed a legal victory in the U.S. District Court in Nevada in March when that court threw out Everi’s claim, citing that Everi’s patent is directed to an abstract idea and lacks an inventive concept. So, Everi’s concept is not patentable under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l. and under Section 101 of the Patent Act.
“We remain pleased with the outcome of the proceedings at ITC,” Jin Shin, general counsel for NRT, said in the press release. “It is unfortunate for Everi’s stockholders and investors that Everi continues to attempt to enforce this clearly invalid patent. The Commission has – time and again – agreed with NRT and disagreed with Everi in this ill-advised litigation. We see no choice for Everi going forward but to withdraw its action.”
Attempts to contact an Everi spokesperson were unsuccessful by press time. However, in an article that appeared in the April 25 edition of the Las Vegas Business Press that focused on the two earlier court rulings, a spokesman declined to comment on whether or not an appeal is in the works because of “ongoing litigation.”
