US Patent Office Reconfirms ClickShare Patentability

The United States Patent and Trademark Office reconfirmed the patentability of the ClickShare button and refused to invalidate Barco's related US patent.

Early 2018, a US law firm, acting on behalf of an undisclosed party, had instituted a reexamination procedure with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in an attempt to invalidate Barco's US patent 8.756.348 based on prior art allegedly demonstrating that the ClickShare button lacked novelty. The USPTO now released its final office action hereby rejecting the invalidation request and upholding the patentability of the ClickShare button. Its decision clearly underlines the innovative character of ClickShare.

In 2017, US-based KanexPro agreed to cease the distribution and sale of its MyTurn wireless presentation system in Europe and the US after the Dutch court had authorized Barco to seize it at the trade show ISE in Amsterdam.

In 2018, Barco had filed suit against Danish distributor Unit.dk for the sale of a wireless presentation system infringing its European ClickShare patent. The Danish Court recently granted Barco's leave for a preliminary injunction to further sell this wireless presentation system in Denmark. Unit.dk has now entered into a settlement agreement under which it agreed to pay Barco an undisclosed settlement amount and to cease the sale of its wireless presentation system. Meanwhile, the Dutch distributor Kerèn B.V. and UK-based distributor Audio Visual Intelligence Ltd. also agreed to cease the sale of wireless presentation solutions which, in Barco's belief, also infringe its European ClickShare patent.

To protect the efforts put in this innovative technology, and the significant investments made by its distributors, resellers, and partners to market, sell, and service ClickShare, Barco continues to closely monitor the wireless presentation market and to persistently enforce its intellectual property rights against companies offering wireless presentation systems copying ClickShare's unique features.

Consistent with this strategy, Barco has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Kindermann for sale of its Klick & Show wireless presentation system, and Delta Electronics for sale of its Vivitek NovoConnect wireless presentation system, in particular its LauncherPlus button. It expects that the courts will render a decision in the second half of 2019. Moreover, Barco is considering filing legal actions against other distributors in France and Germany who, in Barco's belief, also sell wireless presentation systems that infringe its intellectual property rights.

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