Actualités
30 Mar 2007
DLA Piper wins second victory for CollegeNET in dispute against Xap Corp.
Judge Upholds Damages Verdict; Rules CollegeNET Entitled to Reasonable Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
Communiqué de presse
(PORTLAND) – DLA Piper
US LLP today announced the firm successfully represented CollegeNET, Inc., a leading provider of Internet solutions for higher education, in the bench trial phase of its Lanham Act unfair competition claim against Xap Corporation.
After a jury in October returned a verdict that Xap violated the Lanham Act, The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ruled this week that CollegeNET’s Lanham Act unfair competition claim is not barred by laches and that CollegeNET is entitled to compensatory damages in the total amount of $4.5 million.
The court also ruled that CollegeNET is entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in an amount to be determined. In addition, the judge found that Xap’s violations of the Lanham Act were willful and deliberate and found the case to be exceptional.
“This case was extraordinary as the judge not only accepted the evidence as to Xap’s violations of the Lanham Act, but found Xap’s conduct to be so egregious that she awarded CollegeNET its attorneys’ fees and costs,” said Art Beeman, a partner in DLA Piper’s IP practice and leader of the team that represented CollegeNET. “We are very pleased with the court’s decision and are proud to have represented CollegeNET in both the jury and bench trial phases of this litigation.”
In October, a federal jury awarded CollegeNET $4.5 million in damages related to unfair competition claims under the Lanham Act and $4 million after finding that Xap infringed on one of its patents. The jury also upheld the validity of CollegeNET’s patent #6,345,278 and awarded CollegeNET for Xap’s infringement of that patent.
Under the Lanham Act, the verdict confirmed CollegeNET’s claim that Xap made false or misleading statements in the marketplace regarding the protection of the privacy of student data. The evidence revealed that Xap sold certain information such as social security numbers, names, addresses and dates of birth for at least 600,000 students. CollegeNET’s claim was also based upon the false or misleading statements made by Xap to colleges and universities that the data would not be sold.
In addition to Beeman, who is based in DLA Piper’s San Francisco office, the trial team included Elizabeth Day and Bill Goldman from the firm’s East Palo Alto offices and Michael Andow from the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Christine Corbett, Carrie Williamson and Greg Lundell, also based in East Palo Alto, provided assistance in Portland.
DLA Piper’s intellectual property practice offers clients comprehensive IP services, including patent, trademark, and copyright litigation, patent prosecution, IP due diligence and strategic IP asset management. The firm has more than 425 IP attorneys globally and 220 IP attorneys in the U.S., which ranks the group among the largest IP practices in the world. DLA Piper’s Patent Litigation practice in the U.S. alone includes more than 80 lawyers. The firm has handled more than 150 patent cases in U.S. district courts and the ITC over the past three years.
About CollegeNET, Inc. CollegeNET, Inc. is focused on providing technologies that save institutions money and improve educational access and affordability for citizens. The company provides innovations in event and academic scheduling, decision support, admissions, web-based tuition processing, prospect management, alumni development, and e-mail management to colleges, universities and nonprofits worldwide. More than 1,000 institutions use CollegeNET software and e-solutions. The company is headquartered in Portland, OR.
About DLA Piper
DLA Piper has 3,200 lawyers in 24 countries and 63 offices throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has leading practices in corporate, finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, tax, and technology, media and communications. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.
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CONTACTS:
Art Beeman, Partner, DLA Piper, 415.836.2579
Kristen Griffin, Media Relations, GreenTarget, 312.252.4107