Rochester, NY, April 6, 2011 – Pictometry International Corp., the leading provider of aerial oblique imagery and measuring software, announced today that the United States District Court of Minnesota has summarily declared that Pictometry’s oblique aerial image capture system does not infringe on GeoSpan’s patent.
“For Pictometry customers and the industry at large, this ruling confirms Pictometry’s integrity and innovation — the very attributes that enabled us to establish the aerial oblique industry more than a decade ago and the same attributes which have enabled us to maintain our leadership role in the geospatial industry ever since,” said Rick Hurwitz, Pictometry’s Chief Executive Officer.
According to Court documents, the Court ruled in favor of Pictometry in the patent dispute and entered a Declaratory Judgment of non-infringement on GeoSpan’s U.S. Patent no. 5,633,946, effectively ending the case. Due to the baseless nature of GeoSpan’s infringement claims, Pictometry may ask the Minnesota Court to declare the case “exceptional” and require GeoSpan to reimburse Pictometry for attorney’s fees and costs incurred in defending against such claims.
In a related matter, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Pictometry’s request to re-examine the GeoSpan patent to consider written materials which were not before the Patent and Trademark Office examiner when the initial examination of the patent was made. According to the Patent Office’s initial findings, there are substantial new questions of patentability that may evidence inequitable conduct on the part of GeoSpan for withholding some of these materials from the Patent Office.
“Pictometry will continue to protect its intellectual property on behalf of its customers as we create new, innovative technologies and partner with them to better serve their needs,” said Stephen Schultz, Pictometry’s Chief Technical Officer.
About Pictometry
Pictometry International Corp. is a leading provider of geo-referenced, aerial image libraries and related software. Pictometry has captured over 140 million digital aerial images which represent more than 80 percent of the United States population and all major U.S. markets. Using its proprietary imaging process, Pictometry captures geo-referenced, high-resolution orthogonal (straight down view) and oblique (captured at an angle) imagery within which structures and land features can be measured. Pictometry customizes and markets these technologies for government and commercial applications. Pictometry’s standard oblique imagery includes second order visualization tools that do not produce authoritative or definitive information (surveying). For more information, visit www.pictometry.com.