LOS ANGELES -- On Monday the 24th of December, the day after Ring
Plus filed its motion to disqualify AT&T attorneys from the law firm
of Baker Botts, Ring Plus filed a Sealed Motion of Summary Judgment of
Infringement asking the Court to make a ruling based on undisputed
facts.
Ring
Plus, based in Longview, Texas, is the holder of U.S. patent
No. 7,006,608, invented by Karl Seelig et al. and granted by the United
States Patent and Trademark Office on February 28, 2006. This patent
claims a software-based algorithm for operation of a telephone system in
which a generated sound presentation can replace or overlay a ring-back
signal normally heard in a caller's telephone until such time as a
recipient of a telephone call answers (otherwise known as a ring-back
tone or "RBT"). AT&T offers Answer Tones Service which is
described by AT&T as a way to "Save your friends from having to
listen to that plain old ring when they call you. Answer Tones let your
friends enjoy cool music before you answer your phone." The value
of RBT replacement technology is globally USD 2.7 Billion and
increasing. Ring Plus filed its lawsuit for patent infringement on April
14, 2006. According to Technology Law 360, Cingular started selling
Answer Tones ring back services on its website for USD .99 per month in
2005. AT&T's website is currently offering Answer Tones for USD
1.99 a download, plus a monthly subscription rate of USD .99.
The case number is 2:06-cv-0159
The Attorneys representing Cingular Wireless LLC, AT&T wireless
services Inc. are: Larry Carlson, Doug Kubehl, David Taylor, Michael
Jones, and Diane DeVasto.
The Attorneys representing Ring Plus are: Frederic M. Douglas,
Jerry L. Mowery, Timothy Midgley, Sang Dang, and George Fountain
All underlined text items are Hyperlinks
For more information please contact:
Perceptive Impression (media contact: Gavin Navarro) 310 247 9002
Ext 60