UK Legal Action against Activ

RNS Number : 3015F

Intercede Group PLC

11 January 2010

 



11 January 2010

Intercede Group plc

("Intercede" or the "Company")

Intercede Initiates UK Legal Action against ActivIdentity

Intercede seeks Court Declaration of Non-Infringement and Asserts Patent Invalid 

Highlights:

• Intercede seeks a declaration from UK High Court that its software products do not infringe ActivIdentity patent EP(UK)0 981 803

• Intercede challenges validity of ActivIdentity patent EP(UK)0 981 803 

• This is the UK counterpart to US patent 6,575,360 which is subject to a previously announced law suit in the Northern District of California

• Intercede's legal team and insurers are sufficiently confident in the strength of the case that they have underwritten legal costs in the UK litigation

London, United Kingdom (PRWEB) 11 January 2010 - Intercede announces that on 22 December 2009 it issued proceedings against ActivIdentity in the UK High Court in London. These proceedings request the Court to rule ActivIdentity's patent EP (UK) 0 981 803 invalid and/or to make a binding declaration that Intercede's MyID software products do not infringe this patent.

Intercede has adopted an innovative approach to significantly reduce its own financial exposure in this UK litigation. Firstly, it has engaged Forsyth Simpson Solicitors, a London-based firm of specialist intellectual property and patent lawyers, on a Conditional Fee Agreement (often called a "No Win No Fee" agreement). Having considered Intercede's case on the ActivIdentity patent, this firm has agreed to work for a reduced rate in return for an "uplift" on their fees in the event that Intercede wins its case. A benefit of this approach is that it minimises Intercede's short-term costs and if Intercede succeeds, ActivIdentity would normally be ordered by the Court to pay these fees and the uplift.

Secondly, Intercede has secured 'After the Event' Insurance from a leading insurance provider to underwrite the risk of Intercede losing its case. In this circumstance, the insurance policy is intended to cover any costs, up to a specified maximum limit, that the Court may order Intercede to pay to ActivIdentity. Payment of the premium for this insurance is contingent upon the outcome of the case. This means that if Intercede loses the case, Intercede pay no premium to the insurers. Conversely, if Intercede win the case, ActivIdentity would normally be required by the Court to pay the insurance premium.

Richard Parris, Intercede's Chairman and Chief Executive, said, "In the light of the on-going US litigation, the Intercede Board believe it is important to give our European customers confidence that none of our products infringe ActivIdentity's '803 patent and that, in any case, the '803 patent is invalid. We believe that this is best achieved by pursuing a robust course of action through the UK High Court. The very fact that we have been able to secure a Conditional Fee Agreement and After the Event Insurance not only protects the company but gives us confidence in the correctness of our position".

About Intercede

Intercede is the producer of the MyID® Identity and Credential Management System (IDCMS). Intercede's MyID is the only IDCMS software product that enables organizations to easily and securely manage the identities of people and their associated identity credentials within a single, integrated, workflow driven platform. This includes enabling and managing: secure registration, biometric capture, application vetting and approval through to smart card personalisation, issuance and management.

Intercede's MyID is being used around the world by large corporations, governments and banks to manage millions of identities for employees, citizens and customers. Notable deployments in the US include 10 Federal Agencies, a program with Lockheed Martin and two major US financial institutions. In Europe and the Middle East, Intercede's MyID is being deployed in support of government identity, health and corporate employee ID security projects.

For more information visit http://www.intercede.com

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ENQUIRIES

Intercede Group plc 

Richard Parris, Chairman & Chief Executive 

Andrew Walker, Finance Director 

Tel. [phone]

FinnCap

Clive Carver /Charles Cunningham - Corporate Finance

Joanna Weaving - Corporate Broking

Tel. [phone]

Pelham Public Relations 

Archie Berens 

Tel. [phone]

 

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