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BTG and Teleshuttle Sue Microsoft and Apple for Infringement of Patent for Online Software Updates WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. --(Business Wire)-- July 20, 2004 -- BTG International Inc., Teleshuttle Corporation and Teleshuttle Technologies, LLC today announced that they have filed suit in Federal Court in the Northern District of California against Microsoft and Apple for infringement of Teleshuttle Technologies' patent covering Microsoft's and Apple's web-enabled software update technologies.The suit charges Microsoft and Apple with infringement of United States patent number 6,557,054. Specifically, BTG asserts that Microsoft's and Apple's operating systems, as well as Microsoft's Office(R) products, incorporate the patented technologies. BTG has the exclusive worldwide licensing rights to the patent, and is represented by the law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, and Dunner, L.L.P. The suit asks for unspecified damages for past infringing activity and an injunction against future use of the technology. This move follows Microsoft's and Apple's delay in entering into licensing agreements with BTG on commercially reasonable terms. The 6,557,054 patent, granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office on April 29, 2003, is a result of the work of the inventor, Richard Reisman, in the early 1990s, well before the Internet became mainstream. While seeking to create new methods and products to enhance the usefulness of online computing, Reisman conceived and created his inventions. He sought out the assistance of BTG in 1998 to help protect his inventions through patenting. The patent is owned by Teleshuttle Technologies, LLC with BTG as the exclusive worldwide licensee. BTG International Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BTG plc (LSE: BGC), the global technology commercialization company and world leader in patent and technology licensing for over 50 years. For further information on BTG, please visit www.btgplc.com. About BTG BTG creates value by investing in intellectual property and technology development, and in early stage ventures. We realize value through technology licensing, patent assertion and sale of equity investments. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we apply intellectual property and commercial expertise, together with specialist skills in science and technology, to create major product opportunities in the health and high tech sectors. BTG has commercialized important innovations, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging, working closely with Professor Sir Peter Mansfield, who was jointly awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize for Medicine, and others who made contributory inventions to MRI. BTG has also commercialized Multilevel Cell Memory, Campath(R) (alemtuzumab), the first monoclonal antibody treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and recombinant Factor IX blood clotting protein. BTG operates through wholly owned subsidiaries BTG International Ltd. and BTG International Inc. in the UK and USA, respectively. About Teleshuttle Corporation, Teleshuttle Technologies and Richard Reisman Richard Reisman is a long-time leader and inventor in the fields of e-business, interactive media, and information services, and is also the president and founder of Teleshuttle Corporation. Reisman's involvement in hypermedia and electronic communities began in the 1960s, leading to his involvement in a variety of IT consulting, planning, and software development, with companies like Standard & Poors, AT&T, and Mobil Corporation. In the 1990s, he co-founded UNET, and developed the original versions of TV Guide Online in a joint venture with News Corp. More recently, Reisman has been involved as an inventor and entrepreneur in the e-business and e-media space, and is currently working on "CoTV", coactive TV, a power assist for the growing trend toward simultaneous, or "coactive" use of TV and the web. Reisman began his partnership with BTG in 1998, to protect and commercialize his "transporter" technology. Further information can be found at www.teleshuttle.com. |
