WhitServe VS. Domain Registrars, Web Hosts and Technology Providers
Fayetteville, NC (PRWEB) November 25, 2013 -- According to following Court Documents cited by Domain Name Wire and filed, WhitServe LLC, has recently filed Notices of Infringement against domain name registrars as well as several other lawsuits in the US District Court in Connecticut alleging infringement on a number of its patents. WhitServe’s patents include Auto-Responders/Reminders, Comment Management, Database Match & Lock, Cloud Data Backed-Up Locally, File Previewing which could incorporate anything from Control Panels to Trouble Ticket or CRM Systems and other assorted technologies widely used in webhosting, domain registration and other tech sectors. The Defendants include companies like GoDaddy ((WhitServe LLC. v. GoDaddy.com Inc. et al.) case number 3:11-cv-00948, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut). According to the Court Documents cited by CNET, WhitServe also sued Apple ((WhitServe LLC v. Apple, Inc.,) case number 3:12-cv-01522, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut) and others. WhitServe has been successful in the District Court and prevailed on some issues at the appellate level, also securing licensing and royalty fees from several companies such as Endurance International Group, Dotster and FastDomain as evidenced by the Whitserve website.
As referenced above, WhitServe has been sending Notices of Infringement letters to domain registrars, and other technology companies to protect their intellectual property rights and patents. While this would seem to be the prudent thing to do, WhitServe risks sending Notices to companies that were “already” employing the very same technologies to which WhitServe has laid claim to with its patent filings and lawsuits, prior to WhitServe even existing or the patents being filed. “I read the WhitServe Notice,” said Clarence Briggs, Founder and CEO of AIT - Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc., the oldest and among the longest standing web hosting entities registering domains in the world. “Then I tore it up. I remember working with a handful of the original employees at INTERNIC. In fact there were only three web hosting companies registering domains in existence at the time from what I recall and the other two are gone now. There was no WhitServe,” said Briggs.
WhitServe’s success is impressive with respect to enforcing its patents against companies that either did not employ the patented technologies or did not yet exist when the patents were filed by virtue of the licensed companies listed on its website and its press releases - which proclaim success. However, WhitServe faces several significant challenges according to Briggs. “WhitServe is probably leaving a lot of money on the table because it has not been in the operational space until very recently after commencing litigation to enforce the patents,” said Briggs. As such, WhitServe may not fully understand how its patents could be used to extract significantly more licensing revenues with respect to recoupment and rescission, as well as going forward and backward. “We spoke with WhitServe,” said Briggs. “There were a lot of questions and it was an interesting discussion.” As the clock runs down, if WhitServe cannot effectively enforce its patents, it will face patent enforceability SOLs and related issues of proving infringement damages.
What are the real core assets and liabilities in terms of licenses on WhitServe’s intellectual property balance sheet? “In terms of assets and as referenced above, it has the present value of royalty streams from licenses, the recent discounted value of judgment notes reduced to settlement, and the recent discounted value of ongoing and future infringement litigation or wasting assets looking “forward” to remaining patent life as well as a remaining year long damages tail” said Briggs,” which will also become a wasting asset(s)”. With respect to liabilities, Briggs thinks WhitServe has an expensive, slow, uncertain and risky marketing model based primarily on patent litigation or the threat of litigation and forcing the alleged infringers to either pay or litigate and proving damages as evidenced by its lawsuit against Computer Packages, Inc where it was remanded for a new trial on damages. “WhitServe is litigating with companies that will probably outlive its patents statute of limitations (SOL) with respect to the patented technologies. It has difficulty calculating damages going backward because it lacks established going concerns with business models based on historical data to calculate its damages” said Briggs.
Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc. (AIT), is a North Carolina-based firm specializing in Internet-based products and services including web hosting, domain registration and dedicated servers. AIT was founded as a garage start-up in early 1995 by Clarence Briggs, a service-disabled veteran who served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army. AIT is one of the oldest and most established web hosting and domain registration firms in the world. AIT has achieved 18 straight years of profitability as a two-time INC 500 company and three-time Deloitte & Touche award winner with no outside funding under Briggs. He is the recipient of several local and national awards for economic achievement as an entrepreneur to include Entrepreneur of the Year for the state of North Carolina and has spoken extensively at various trade shows about various Internet technologies.
To learn more about Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc., contact Michael Noble, at [email protected]
Mike Noble, Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc., http://www.ait.com/, +1 (910) 321-1209, [email protected]
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