Neustar, Inc., a global information services and technology company and leader in identity resolution, announced that the U.S. District Court of Delaware denied Next Caller’s motion to preclude trial testimony of TRUSTID’s damages expert and a motion for summary judgment that Next Caller did not infringe TRUSTID’s patents, acquired by Neustar in 2019. Next Caller filed the motion in a pending lawsuit in which TRUSTID alleges that Next Caller’s VeriCall service infringes three of TRUSTID’s patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 9,001,985; 8,238,532; and 9,871,913). Trial is scheduled for July 13, 2020.
The Court was unpersuaded by Next Caller’s non-infringement arguments. Specifically, the Judge noted that Next Caller’s argument, “that the asserted claims all require pre-answer analysis and VeriCall is invoked post-answer” is insufficient. The Court further noted that in its marketing, Next Caller “has repeatedly characterized VeriCall ‘as performing analysis pre-answer’”. And the Court was not persuaded by Next Caller’s argument that ‘answer’ as used in marketing and technical contexts has different meanings.
Additionally, with respect to TRUSTID’s allegation that Next Caller made false advertising claims regarding the operation and performance of Next Caller’s VeriCall service, the Court denied-in-part and granted-in-part Next Caller’s motion for summary judgment of no false advertising by Next Caller. TRUSTID alleges that Next Caller’s marketing claim that its VeriCall service increases IVR containment rate by 10 percent – a key metric for call authentication solutions – is false. In denying Next Caller’s motion, the Court held that “evidence suggests that [Next Caller] fabricated that statement” about its IVR containment rate. The Court did grant Next Caller’s motion related to two marketing claims of “agent cost and time savings”.
“Neustar is very pleased with these decisions,” said Ted Prince, Executive Vice President and President of Neustar’s Analytics Solutions business. “We have made significant investments in caller-authentication services to provide an industry-leading service to our customers, while ensuring marketplace integrity. We brought this action to stop Next Caller’s false advertising and infringement of our patented technology and to protect Neustar’s significant investment in our caller-authentication solutions. We are well on our way to achieving that goal.”
These summary judgment motion decisions continue Next Caller’s string of losses, including its previous attempts to invalidate the TRUSTID patents-in-suit before the District Court. Next Caller also failed to get institution of three separate inter parte review (IPR) validity challenges before the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB). And although a fourth IPR validity challenge against the ‘985 patent was instituted, the PTAB confirmed that certain claims were patentable.
“These decisions, in conjunction with our previous wins sustaining the validity of our patents, highlight the strength of our patents and commitment to protect our investments,” said Kevin Hughes, Neustar’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “Next Caller swung for the fences with these three motions and struck out. We look forward to trial where we plan to pursue the maximum damages possible, including trebling of damages for Next Caller’s willful infringement, and seeking a permanent injunction against Next Caller.”
For more information about Neustar and its inbound authentication solutions, visit www.risk.neustar.
About TRUSTID
Acquired by Neustar in January 2019, TRUSTID is a leading provider of caller authentication, identity and risk solutions. TRUSTID works with financial institutions and other enterprises to authenticate callers using a caller’s phone as an ownership-based authentication token that puts trusted callers into the fast lane, before their calls are even answered, while assessing the risk of others. TRUSTID’s inbound caller engagement solutions, along with Neustar’s market-leading outbound phone-centric risk solutions, help clients reduce contact center operating costs, improve the customer experience and increase the efficiency of fraud-fighting efforts.
About Neustar
Neustar is an information services and technology company and a leader in identity resolution providing the data and technology that enables trusted connections between companies and people at the moments that matter most. Neustar offers industry-leading solutions in Marketing, Risk, Communications, Security and Registry that responsibly connect data on people, devices and locations, continuously corroborated through billions of transactions. Neustar serves more than 8,000 clients worldwide, including 60 of the Fortune 100. Learn how your company can benefit from the power of trusted connections here: www.home.neustar.
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