Court Sets March 3 Hearing on Preliminary Injunction to Shut Down Napster Download Business.LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. -- SightSound Technologies, multiple patent holder for the electronic sale of digital audio and video, filed a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. motion on Monday against Napster to shut down its download business while a federal judge weighs evidence against the online brand. Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, has scheduled a March 3 hearing on the preliminary injunction in the wake of a patent infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. lawsuit originally filed October 8, 2004. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. SightSound President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Scott Sander, the companies were on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of finalizing an audio license in good faith when, "at the eleventh hour," Napster demanded the free inclusion of a video license, despite the fact that it does not currently sell video downloads. "This lawsuit is the regrettable outcome of a long process that could have been resolved amicably," stated Sander. "It is surprising that Napster has taken this road given that it seems to have been working to restore its brand value." Sander also finds it "wildly ironic" that Napster, whose name had been synonymous with the most well-known violation of intellectual property rights, might now seek recourse from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, requesting a reexamination re·ex·am·ine also re-ex·am·ine tr.v. re·ex·am·ined, re·ex·am·in·ing, re·ex·am·ines 1. To examine again or anew; review. 2. Law To question (a witness) again after cross-examination. of SightSound's long-held patents. In 1988, SightSound Technologies Founder Arthur R. Hair invented a method and system for the electronic sale of digital audio and video recordings. In 1993 he received the first in a portfolio of patents. Since then SightSound has been a continual innovator, beginning with the world's first download music sale in 1995. It set another benchmark in 1999 with "Pi," the first movie distributed electronically for commerce. In the last decade the company has digitally distributed more than 400 copyrighted movies, TV programs and special interest videos through the Internet. In February 2004, SightSound settled a six-year-old patent infringement case against N2K and CDnow, subsidiaries of Bertelsmann AG, that recognized the three patents at issue in the trial as valid and enforceable. SightSound Technologies has continued to expand its intellectual property holdings and is the owner of 15 patents. It also owns Arthur Hair's patent applications filed in the field of trusted and decentralized de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. peer-to-peer networks. Today, SightSound Technologies supports the music and film industries as they adopt digital distribution by licensing its patented technologies in the fields of audio/video eCommerce, audio/video compression and applied encryption. |
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