Gift Card Patent Troll Surrenders, Retailers Off The Hook
Written by Evan SchumanJuly 14th, 2011
The case against the dozens of major retailers who have been sued for supposedly violating a payment patent continued to collapse Friday (July 8) when the patent holder—Card Activation Technologies (CAT)—surrendered the validity of any of its claims. This is good news for those chains, as it means the litigation against them is suspended and is very likely to be dismissed. This immediately followed a federal judge's ruling that invalidated all but three of CAT's claims.
Exactly one week after that federal court decision, CAT agreed to a stipulation that it was surrendering the defense of those last three claims, effectively killing the case. They will consider an appeal—and if the appellate panel reinstates the case, everything is back on—but the case appears dead for the time being.
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I have strong reservations about the 'individual' certification and posting of that information for merchants. Can you imagine the potential employee poaching that might occur? The implications when competitors can look up how many are certified with each of their competitors? 
-Christine
