[May 04, 2004] Verizon Applauds U.S. Patent Office Order to Reexamine Call-Center Technology Patents NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Patent and Trademark Office today announced it would reexamine the validity of four patents owned by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. Information is available on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week18/OG/TOC.htm#ref6. The patents relate to interactive technology used by call centers. Verizon California and other Verizon entities are in litigation with Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing regarding the Katz patents, including three of the four patents subject to reexamination. The following response should be attributed to Adam T. Bernstein, Verizon assistant general counsel - intellectual property. "Verizon applauds the U.S. Patent Office's action to review the Katz patents. Verizon asserts that Katz's alleged inventions, like the ones at issue in its litigations against Verizon, involve conventional functions of the telephone network, automatic call distributors, voice response units and operators. Although Verizon was not involved in urging the U.S. Patent Office to reexamine the Katz patents, we are pleased with the Patent Office's willingness to take a second look, and we will follow the reexamination proceedings with interest." Verizon CONTACT: Sharon Cohen-Hagar of Verizon, +1-972-718-6205, [email protected] Web site: http://www.verizon.com/http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week18/OG/TOC.htm# ref6 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]