TPI's Official Statement on Patent Lawsuit
september 28, 2004 04:02 pm
Boston, Mass. -- Sept. 23, 2004 -- Tele-Publishing Inc. has recently filed patent infringement lawsuits against Sutcliffe Associates and a group of publications that are using the Select Alternatives (SA) service. After studying the Select Alternatives service and consulting with patent experts, TPI concluded that several of its patents are being infringed, potentially causing financial harm to both TPI and its clients.
Since its inception, TPI has worked diligently to be the leader in the Voice and Online Personals industry. Over the course of the last fifteen years, through the investment of many millions of dollars and the efforts of its past and present staff, TPI has worked continually to develop innovative systems so that its clients and their users have a quality and profitable personal advertising experience. As part and parcel of this process, on a number of occasions TPI has developed unique products and processes that have warranted legal protection in the form of patents.
As many of you may be aware, it is a difficult and expensive task to acquire a patent. When achieved, a patent, like a copyright, protects its owner from unauthorized use of the patented technology. Just as no newspaper would find it acceptable for another newspaper to publish and profit from its copyrighted articles without its consent, as the owner of certain patents TPI has taken the necessary legal action to protect its assets and to prevent Sutcliffe Associates and its clients from profiting from them without TPI's consent.
TPI continues to invest in its totally integrated print/Internet/audiotext, and now mobile, services so that it can serve all of its clients with the best products and services of any provider -- and TPI thanks all of you who are its clients for your business.
