Dow Jones is on top after court agrees Ablaise patent for Web personalization is invalid
By APTuesday, June 1, 2010
Appeals court sides with Dow Jones in patent spat
NEW YORK — News Corp.’s Dow Jones and Co. said Tuesday that a federal appeals court has put an end to a 4-year-old patent scuffle with Ablaise Ltd.
Ablaise threatened to sue Dow Jones in 2006 over technology for personalizing content on websites. Dow Jones filed a suit against Ablaise claiming the patents were invalid.
In 2009, a federal judge in Washington said the patents were invalid because the company’s inventions were obvious or anticipated by existing technology.
Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal and other financial news sources, said the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed that one of the patents is invalid. Dow Jones said Ablaise had already agreed not to sue Dow Jones for claims based on the second patent. An attorney for Ablaise did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Shares of News Corp. fell 19 cents to $15.17 in afternoon trading Tuesday.
