PORTLAND, Ore., May 28 OR-CollegeNET-Litigat
PORTLAND, Ore., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- CollegeNET and The Princeton Review
have entered into an agreement settling all claims related to The Princeton
Review's alleged infringement of two CollegeNET patents, U.S. patent number
6,460,042 (the '042) and U.S. patent number 6,910,045 (the '045). These
CollegeNET patents cover key innovations in the way web-based admissions
applications are serviced on behalf of colleges and universities.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990810/NYFNSP04)
CollegeNET's infringement claims arose from TPR's operation of its Embark
admissions servicing unit, a unit which TPR sold in early 2007 to MRU Holdings
(My Rich Uncle). Princeton Review publicly acknowledged settling the
litigation and making the one-time $2.6 Million payment to CollegeNET in its
2007 Annual Report. While most terms of the settlement agreement are
confidential, a key provision that isn't calls for payment by TPR of a royalty
to CollegeNET should TPR choose to re-enter the web admissions application
processing business. The agreed upon royalty rate conforms to the per
application compensation rate set by a jury in 2003 in the CollegeNET vs.
ApplyYourself patent infringement litigation -- litigation which has not yet
closed.
The settlement agreement follows rejection by the US Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) of The Princeton Review's request for a second re-examination
of CollegeNET's '042 patent. The USPTO issued a notice in July, 2007
upholding all claims of CollegeNET's US patent no. 6,460,042 (the '042
patent); affirmed new, additional claims; and closed its reexamination of that
patent. Following this notice, The Princeton Review filed a second request
for re-examination to the PTO citing additional, putatively invalidating prior
art. The USPTO indicated in its rejection of this second request that the
cited materials and arguments failed to raise a substantial new question of
patentability. The patent office issued the re-examination certificate for
the '042 patent on April 8, 2008 closing the proceedings.
Paul Casey, CollegeNET associate vice president, stated, "The settlement
agreement with Princeton Review ends their participation in a protracted and
coordinated attempt by various infringers to overturn CollegeNET's patents.
The settlement agreement and the latest USPTO action are important additional
steps towards affirming our valid intellectual property rights and clearing
the haze of denial that has lingered over the marketplace."
About CollegeNET, Inc.
CollegeNET, Inc. provides web-based, on-demand services that save
institutions money and improve educational access and affordability for
citizens. The company provides innovations in event and academic scheduling,
decision support, admissions, social networking, web-based tuition processing,
prospect management, alumni development, and course evaluation to colleges,
universities, and nonprofits worldwide. More than 1,000 institutions use
CollegeNET solutions. The company is headquartered in Portland, OR.
SOURCE CollegeNET, Inc.
