Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P., headquartered in Los Angeles,
announced today the settlement of patent litigation between it and
Continental Airlines, the world's fifth largest airline, based in
Houston, Texas. As part of the settlement, Continental has agreed to pay
an undisclosed sum for a nonexclusive license under a comprehensive
portfolio of patents that Katz owns relating to interactive voice
applications.
The nonexclusive license covers services offered by Continental Airlines
in the “Travel and Transportation Services”
Field of Use, including customer service provided via automated systems
and live agents. Other terms of the license were not disclosed.
The patents held by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. cover a
wide range of interactive technology including automated forms of:
customer service, prescription refill services, securities trading,
merchandising, prepaid services, telephone conferences, registration,
home shopping, as well as functions involved in securing information
from databases by telephone, interactive cable transactions, and various
other uses of toll free and local numbers.
Ronald A. Katz stated, “We welcome Continental
Airlines to the large number of leading companies who have purchased
license rights under this portfolio.”
There are over 200 companies with license rights under this portfolio,
including over 25 energy and utility companies. Companies with license
rights under this portfolio include: Advanta Corp., Alltel Corporation,
American Century, American Express, Ameritrade Holding Corporation,
Atmos Energy Corporation, Automatic Data Processing, Inc., AT&T Inc.,
Avon Products, Inc., Bank of America Corporation, BB&T Corporation,
Capital One Services Inc., Certegy Inc., Chevron U.S.A. Inc.,
Countrywide Financial Corporation, Dell Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc.,
Discover Financial Services, Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P., Equifax Inc.,
Express Scripts, First Data Corporation, The Gallup Organization,
Hewlett-Packard Company, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Home Shopping
Network Inc., Household International, Inc., HSBC Bank USA, ING North
America Insurance Corp., International Business Machines (IBM), KeyCorp,
LaSalle Bank Corporation, Leap Wireless International, Inc.,
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, MCI Inc., Mellon Financial
Corporation, Merck & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Metris Companies
Inc., Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, New York Life Insurance
Company, OppenheimerFunds, Inc., People’s
Bank, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., Principal Financial Group,
Inc., Prudential Financial, Inc., Qwest Communications International
Inc., QVC, Inc., Regions Financial Corporation, Safeway Inc., Sears,
Roebuck and Co., Sprint Corporation, SouthTrust Bank, Sunoco, Inc.,
SUPERVALU INC., T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., United Air Lines, Inc.,
The Vanguard Group, Inc., Verizon California Inc. and its affiliates,
Wachovia Corporation, Walgreen Co., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., WellPoint,
Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, West Corporation and Zions Bancorporation.
Mr. Katz is the named inventor on a large number of patents primarily in
the fields of telecommunications and computing. He also formed
Telecredit, Inc., the nation's first on-line real time credit and check
cashing authorization system, and was awarded a patent as co-inventor of
that technology.
Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental,
together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more
than 2,900 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia,
serving 144 domestic and 139 international destinations. More than 550
additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With more
than 45,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston,
Cleveland and Guam, and together with Continental Express, carries
approximately 69 million passengers per year. Continental consistently
earns awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its
corporate culture. For more company information, visit continental.com.
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