Securus successfully defends US patent before board

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has ruled in favor of Securus Technologies regarding a patent invalidation filing by Global Tel*Link (GTL).

Despite GTL’s dissention that the patent should be nullified, the court sided with Securus on several key aspects of the biometric identity verification patent.

U.S. Patent No. 7,494,061 B2 covers technology relating to identity verification using biometric monitoring during operation of a device, such as a secure inmate telephone in a prison or jail facility.

“We were pleased that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board viewed these key elements/claims as being valid and they again ruled in Securus’ favor,” said Richard A. Smith, chairman and CEO of Securus Technologies. “We had another win from the PTAB on US Patent No. 8,929,525, the Video Patent, just one day earlier.

“Ultimately, we enjoy significant advantages over GTL in Issued Patents, Pending Patents, In-Force Patents, and our Patent Win-Loss Record – and we have license agreements with most significant carriers in our sector including two previous license agreements that GTL had with Securus over a 10 year period,” said Smith. “This advantage is material and will last for the foreseeable future given our acquisitions and advanced development efforts.

“GTL has filed 23 patent invalidations against Securus and has only been successful on invalidating four patents to date. My estimate is that they have spent over $20 million in that effort including patent litigation – so not a very good return on that money for them,” said Smith.

“At that rate, they will have to spend in excess of $200 million attempting to invalidate all of our patents and fighting with us – and that effort clearly will likely not be successful – but I encourage them to try. A more prudent approach would be to have a license agreement with Securus – from my perspective that is the best business case for them with the highest NPV (Net Present Value). I expect that this IPR invalidation process will continue for a long time – 5 to 10 years, and I am prepared to stick with it and expect to eventually prevail.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  identity verification  |  patents  |  Securus Technologies