PTAB Upholds Securus Patent After Challenge by Global Tel*Link
The Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) upheld a Securus patent in a ruling on a petition filed by industry competitor Global Tel*Link (GTL) seeking to invalidate the patent, Securus said in a news release Monday.…
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The disputed patent concerned an incentive program that offered discounted calling rates for prison inmates exhibiting good behavior, and is the first of Securus' patents challenged by GTL under the new PTAB review proceedings to be upheld. The PTAB recently invalidated two patents held by Securus after GTL filed petitions for review (see 1509140069">1509140069). "GTL had requested the [PTAB] invalidate approximately 18 of our patents -- two have been invalidated and one has been upheld -- those are ratios that we expected, so no surprises there," Securus CEO Richard Smith said. "Ultimately -- the number of patent invalidations that GTL seeks is irrelevant to me." There will be no change in how the company operates if one of its patents is invalidated, Smith said, and if GTL successfully invalidates all the patents it has filed petitions against, Securus will still have more than 92 percent of all issued and pending patents in place. GTL didn't comment.