Seventh Amendment is at Stake in Soverain v. Newegg

CHICAGO, Jan. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Soverain Software has received widespread industry support for its patent infringement case, Soverain v. Newegg, which is scheduled for the Supreme Court's January 10, 2014 certiorari conference.  The widely-read SCOTUSblog features Soverain v. Newegg as both a Petition of the Day and a Petition to Watch.

"After reading our cert petition and the court documents, leaders in the legal community are confirming the importance of Soverain v. Newegg and concluding it is worthy of the Supreme Court," said Soverain's President, Katharine Wolanyk.  "Newegg has lost sight of the American principles of property rights, validity of patents, burden of proof, and the Constitution, and is instead mischaracterizing legitimate businesses as a diversionary tactic.  Soverain's case matters because it is about the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial for patents which invented the way online business is done," said Wolanyk.

IP industry leaders have come out in support of Soverain's cert petition.  The case has drawn amicus support from leaders in intellectual property, technology, investing and academia who urge the Supreme Court to grant certiorari.  Gene Quinn, a patent attorney and top IP law blogger, said "This is not your ordinary obviousness dispute.  The Supreme Court should take this case."  Professor Hal Wegner, a patent attorney and former PTO patent examiner, named Soverain v. Newegg to his widely-read Top Ten Patent Cases list and called it a "well-crafted petition."  Law professor and prominent blogger Dennis Crouch said that the CAFC's stance of reversing the non-obviousness decision was "almost unprecedented."  Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Magazine simply said "Newegg may, in fact, just like infringing patents."

Soverain sued Newegg for patent infringement and Newegg lost at trial.  Chief Judge Leonard Davis said "I don't think it's a close call" when ruling that Newegg had not met the burden of proof of clear and convincing evidence in order to go to the jury, and he ruled Soverain's patents were valid and infringed by Newegg.  Newegg appealed for a new trial and the CAFC instead improperly invalidated the patents, including claims that were not even asserted, without giving Soverain a chance to argue that issue.  Soverain has asked the Supreme Court to review this case and amicus briefs by independent parties urged the Court to hear the case.  If the verdict is left to stand, the judicial overreach in Soverain v. Newegg will become a dangerous precedent which will change not only patents, but the law itself.

Wolanyk says, "It's time to set the record straight in the midst of rampant disinformation about our patents and business.  Soverain's patents are valid and have been found non-obvious by two federal courts and twice by the PTO in reexaminations.  Soverain's software product has been in continuous use since 1996 and our engineering team continues to develop it and support our customers to this day.  Our software market share declined from #1 in the world because of widespread infringement by companies like Newegg and the costly necessity of going to court to protect our intellectual property, just as The Wall Street Journal predicted in 1998."

Information on Soverain v. Newegg, including the articles referenced above, can be found on Soverain's website at http://soverain.com/asp/news/ , and details of the case are posted at http://soverain.com/asp/news/news_case_summaries.asp .

ABOUT SOVERAIN SOFTWARE

Soverain Software LLC provides ecommerce software and services for enterprises, focusing on the publishing, news syndicate and digital content industries.  Soverain's enterprise software product Transact has been in continuous use for 18 years, used by over 1,000 companies in over 25 countries, including well-known companies such as Time-Warner, AT&T, Sony, Disney, BusinessWeek and Reuters.  Our patented Internet commerce technology benefits both merchants and consumers by enabling secure and flexible online transactions.

SOURCE Soverain Software LLC