Datapoint Corp, the videoconferencing software house that claims that all other videoconferencing companies infringe its patents, says that the outcome of its appeal against the recent Picturetel decision (CI No 3,401) will determine how it proceeds with its wider ranging class action suit against Intel Corp, Pacific Bell Corp, Dell Computer Corp and Hayes Microcomputer Corp. That action was begun last November (CI No 3,299), but Datapoint reminds us that the original Picturetel suit was started as long ago as 1993. Earlier this month a jury overturned Datapoint’s claims against Picturetel, and rejected its claims for upwards of $200m in damage. Datapoint has spent a considerable amount of time on protecting its patents since then, and in 1995 even set up a separate company, Minx Patents Inc, to manage them (CI No 2,727).
