Payout cut in Seven patent spat

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has returned a verdict limiting the damages payable to mobile email company Visto in its ongoing patent litigation with rival Seven.

Visto had originally asserted nearly 200 claims from six patents, and sought damages in excess of $12m. But the jury found that only five claims from three patents were infringed, and awarded damages of just $3.6m.

In a separate proceeding at the US Patent Office, two of the claims were rejected and are awaiting final office actions.

"We are clearly disappointed with the verdict, but we are grateful for the limited nature of the damages and look forward to the next phase of the litigation and the outcome of the US Patent Office's re-examination proceedings, " said Harvey Anderson, senior vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel at Seven.

"We believe that minor alterations of the software will avoid the claims in the future, with no disruption to our customers or the user experience."

The ruling does not restrict or prohibit Seven from continued and normal business operations, and the company will continue to focus its resources on its customers, innovation and the expansion of the mobile email market, the company said.

To protect its customers in the US, and notwithstanding the ultimate outcome of this case and subsequent appeals, the availability of a non-infringing workaround later this year will negate the outcome of the litigation, according to Seven.

The workaround represents a natural evolution of the System Seven product, which will be incorporated into upcoming releases of the software. The new design has also been validated by third-party legal experts.