Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Wed, February 11, 2009 General Electric Company and Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. Settle Patent Lawsuit and Enter into License Agreement
LOS ANGELES--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--General Electric Company (GE), a diversified technology, media and financial services company (NYSE:GE), and Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P., announced today the settlement of patent litigation between the parties. As part of the settlement, GE 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 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 GE to the significant group of technology, media and financial services companies who have purchased a license under this portfolio."
There are over 275 companies with license rights under this portfolio, including over 45 energy and utility companies. Companies with license rights under this portfolio include: Advanta Corp., Aetna Inc., Alltel Corporation, American Century, American Express, American International Group, Inc., Amtrak, AT&T Inc., Avis Budget Group, Inc., Avon Products, Inc., Bank of America Corporation, Capital One Services Inc., CIGNA Corporation, Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Comerica Inc., Continental Airlines, Costco Wholesale Corporation, CVS Caremark Corporation, Dell Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Discover Financial Services, Experian, Express Scripts, Exxon Mobil Corp., First Data Corporation, FirstMerit Corporation, Frontier Communications Corporation, The Gallup Organization, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Household International, Inc., ING North America Insurance Corp., International Business Machines (IBM), Kaiser Permanente Insurance Co., KeyCorp, Kohl's Corporation, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, MCI Inc., Mellon Financial Corporation, Merck & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Metris Companies Inc., Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Navy Federal Credit Union, New York Life Insurance Company, OppenheimerFunds, Inc., Premier Global Services, Inc., Principal Financial Group, Inc., Prudential Financial, Inc., Qwest Communications International Inc., QVC, Inc., Regions Financial Corporation, Rite Aid Corporation, Safeway Inc., Sears, Roebuck and Co., ShopKo Stores, Sprint Corporation, Sunoco, Inc., SUPERVALU Inc., TD Banknorth Inc., T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., T-Mobile USA, United Air Lines, Inc., UnitedHealth Group, Verizon California Inc., Wachovia Corporation, Walgreen Co., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, Webster Financial Corporation, WellPoint, Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, West Corporation, Whirlpool Corporation, Wilmington Trust 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.
