Firepond Files Lawsuit to Protect Intellectual Property, Status as Creator of Email Response Management Industry; Suit Accuses Banter of Patent Infringement.Business Editors/Legal Writers/High-Tech Writers MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003 Firepond, Inc. (Nasdaq:FIRE), a leading provider of email response management See e-mail response management. and sales configuration systems, last week filed 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 lawsuit: see procedure; tort. in U.S. Federal District Court. The suit, against Banter, a California based software company founded in 1997, is aimed at protecting intellectual property Firepond secured when it acquired Brightware, the California based pioneer of email response management software, founded in 1995. Specifically, Firepond is seeking to enforce U.S. Patent 6,411,947B2, titled "Automatic Electronic Message Interpretation and Routing System," which is the core technology in Firepond's Email Management Software. "The core value of any software company today is its people and its intellectual property," stated Firepond Chairman, 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. and President Klaus Besier. "At Firepond, we are serious about protecting the value we have created over the past 20 years. That value is represented, in part, by the extensive patent portfolio we hold on a variety of different technologies and applications in the areas of email response management and sales configuration. We will protect these assets to preserve value for our shareholders, our customers, and our employees." Concurrent with the patent lawsuit, Firepond has also restructured its patent licensing program to simplify the licensing process for other companies to legally leverage Firepond's intellectual property. Firepond's Email Management Software enables companies to cost-effectively manage their online customer interactions by leveraging advanced intelligence engines and natural language processing Natural language processing Computer analysis and generation of natural language text. The goal is to enable natural languages, such as English, French, or Japanese, to serve either as the medium through which users interact with computer systems such as technology. Using the system, companies can provide immediate, accurate, and qualified responses to all email customer inquiries. In November 2002, Firepond released version released version - release 8.0 of its email response management system See e-mail response management. , which included several important product enhancements such as support for double-byte characters (e.g. Chinese), enhanced agent desktop integration capabilities, and an expanded natural language processing library. About Firepond, Inc. Firepond, Inc. (www.firepond.com) is a leading provider of email response management and sales configuration systems. Firepond's eServicePerformer(TM) email response management system leverages patented intelligence engines and natural language processing technology to manage the full range of a company's online customer interaction channels, with an emphasis on email. Firepond's global customer base for its eServicePerformer product line includes Abbey National, AT&T Wireless, Best Buy, Cendant Corporation, Royal Sun Alliance, Ticketmaster, and Virgin Mobile. Firepond's SalesPerformer(TM) sales configuration system, which is sold as a complete system or as modules to address specific business issues, helps reduce the cost of selling complex products and services across multiple sales channels. The company's global blue-chip customer base for its SalesPerformer product line includes Amada, Cummins Power Generation, Deere & Company, Freightliner, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Honda, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Shield A US not-for-profit health care insurer that is a reimbursement intermediary for physicians. Cf Blue Cross. , Renault Trucks Renault Trucks is a French truck manufacturer with its corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Since 2001 it has been owned by Volvo Group. From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the company was called Renault Véhicules Industriels , Scania, Siemens Building Technologies, Steelcase International, and Toshiba Machine. Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: economic and other factors affecting the demand for e-business sales and service solutions; market acceptance of Firepond's SalesPerformer and eServicePerformer Suites and their components in chosen vertical industries; quarterly fluctuations in operating results attributable to the timing and amount of orders for our products and services; difficulties with the implementation and integration of Firepond products; uncertainty, costs, potential damages associated with material litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. ; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our ability to keep pace with changing product requirements; and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. filed in January and Forms 10-Q filed in March, June, and September, copies of which may be obtained through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Firepond and Firepond product names are trademarks of Firepond, Inc. All other product or company names are the properties of their respective owners. |
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