Zumbox Granted Stay in Patent Case

Zumbox, Inc., operator of a paperless postal system, announced in a press release that the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted its Motion to Stay a patent infringement litigation brought by Pitney Bowes, Inc. The Stay was issued after the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) commenced a reexamination of the Pitney Bowes patents. On October 13, 2009, Pitney Bowes initiated the lawsuit, alleging Zumbox’s paperless postal system infringes on three of the company’s patents. Zumbox filed requests for reexamination of each of the three patents-in-suit with the USPTO. The USPTO granted reexamination. Zumbox also filed a motion to stay the litigation with the United States District Court, pending the outcome of the reexaminations. On May 20, 2010, the Court made the following determination, according to Zumbox: “All three factors weigh in favor of granting Zumbox’s motion for a stay. The case is in its nascent stages; it is highly likely that the patent reexamination will dispose of some or all of Pitney’s infringement claims or at a minimum, narrow and clarify the issues to be litigated; and Pitney has not demonstrated that it will suffer undue prejudice as a result of the stay. The court, therefore, grants Zumbox’s motion for a stay.” Zumbox is represented by McDermott Will & Emery LLP. The company’s lead attorney, Yar Chaikovsky, stated, “As a result of this order, the patent litigation will not proceed while the reexaminations are moving forward. Zumbox is very pleased with this result.”