REG - PCI-PAL PLC - Update on Patent Infringement Claims

PCI- PALAnnouncement

28/06/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 3752Q  PCI-PAL PLC  28 June 2022

 
 

 

 

 
PCI-PAL PLC
("PCI Pal", "the Company" or "the Group")
 
Update on Patent Infringement Claims

 

PCI-PAL PLC (AIM: PCIP), the global cloud provider of secure payment solutions
for business communications, provides an update on the unfounded patent
infringement claims made by a competitor.

 

As previously announced, in the first step in its defence and counterclaims
associated to the U.S. aspects of the case, the Company had filed a motion to
dismiss the case based on the argument that the U.S. patents  of Sycurio
Limited (a UK-headquartered company formerly known as Semafone) were invalid
because they are too abstract to be patentable (an "Alice Motion").

 

Contrary to representations made by Sycurio last week, both in trade press and
on social media, that the Court rejected PCI Pal's assertions regarding
invalidity of the patents, the Court in fact determined that PCI Pal had made
"strong arguments" regarding invalidity, but that it could not make a final
ruling on invalidity at this early stage of the case and that the record
needed to be further developed before such a ruling.  With a U.S. court date
not expected until mid-2024, the Board believes it likely that it will
resubmit the Alice Motion, as well as other invalidity arguments, at a later
date once claim construction is further advanced.

 

The Board is encouraged by a number of statements made by the Court in its
ruling.  As a result, the Board believes, even at this very early stage of
the U.S. litigation process, that the validity of Sycurio's patents is in
serious doubt given PCI Pal also has strong invalidity arguments based on
prior art.

 

Examples of statements from the Court's ruling that have helped strengthen the
Board's view on its arguments that Sycurio's U.S. Patents are invalid include:

 

·   "The Court finds that Defendant (PCI Pal) does raise strong arguments
that Plaintiff's patents may be invalid, but the Court cannot reach that
conclusion-and effectively declare Plaintiff's patents invalid-on the strength
of the evidence and arguments before it, while drawing all factual inferences
in Plaintiff's favor (as the Court must on this procedural posture). Claim
construction and further development of a factual record is needed."

 

·      "While Defendant raises strong arguments that Plaintiff only
purports to patent the idea of a phone system that blocks sensitive
information rather than specifically disclosing how to do so, as the patents
must do to be valid under Alice, the Court cannot reach this conclusion (and
rule that Plaintiff's patents are invalid) on the current record and drawing
all factual inferences in Plaintiff's favor (as it must on this procedural
posture). Because the patents contain technical subject matter, the Court is
unable to effectively evaluate them on their face alone. Claim construction
and further development of the record is needed."

 

Based on these statements and others, the Board is confident in continuing to
vigorously pursue its multi-faceted strategy across a strong defence on
non-infringement, as well as a number of counterclaims to invalidate Sycurio's
patents.

 

Commenting, James Barham, Chief Executive Officer, said:

 

"As the fastest growing company in our market, and recently ranked as the
56(th) fastest growing company in the U.K. by Oresa Growth Index, the current
financial year has seen the Company continue to make strong progress despite
these unfounded claims of patent infringement. Whilst the claims have been an
unwelcome distraction, it has not stopped the Company from continuing to
deliver against its strategy and demonstrating excellent growth.

 

"PCI Pal was the first in the market to launch globally available, cloud-based
secure payment services for business communications.  PCI Pal's patented
technology was reviewed only very recently by the U.S. IPO against Sycurio's
patents and it was found to be innovative and novel over them.

 

"We are encouraged by the U.S. Court's findings during the Alice motion
process regarding the strength of our arguments around Sycurio's patents being
invalid, and we will continue to robustly defend our position against the
claims being made against us.

 

"We will continue to use all the routes available to us to bring this matter
to a close, and are confident in our position on both the defence of the
claims made and on the counterclaims we are making."

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 PCI-PAL PLC                                 Via Walbrook PR
 James Barham - Chief Executive Officer

 William Good - Chief Financial Officer

 finnCap (Nominated Adviser and Broker)      +44 (0) 20 7227 0500
 Marc Milmo/Simon Hicks (Corporate Finance)

 Richard Chambers (Corporate Broking)

 Walbrook PR                                 +44 (0) 20 7933 8780
 Tom Cooper/Nick Rome                        +44 (0) 797 122 1972
                                             PCIPAL@walbrookpr.com

 

About PCI Pal:

 

PCI Pal is a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") solutions that
empower companies to take payments from their customers securely, adhere to
strict industry governance, and remove their business from the significant
risks posed by non-compliance and data loss. Our products secure payments and
data in any business communications environment including voice, chat, social,
email, and contact centre. We are integrated to, and resold by, some of the
worlds' leading business communications vendors, as well as major payment
service providers.

 

The entirety of our product-base is available from our global cloud platform
hosted in Amazon Web Services ("AWS"), with regional instances across EMEA,
North America, and ANZ.

 

For more information visit www.pcipal.com (http://www.pcipal.com) or follow
the team on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pci-pal/
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/pci-pal/)

 

 

 

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