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In
The News
A Boca Raton e-mail marketer is suing InfoUSA, alleging
the Omaha-based data and marketing services giant has
infringed on its patent for managing bulk e-mail distribution.
What's more, the plaintiff seems to
have a wide swath of the commercial e-mail industry
in its crosshairs.
Filed by Perfect Web Technologies in
U.S. District Court in Miami yesterday, the suit accuses
InfoUSA of "willful and intentional" infringement
of its patent, No. 6,631,400, and asks for unspecified
damages and attorneys fees.
According to the patent's description,
it is a method of transmitting bulk e-mail to a specific
profile of opt-in recipients and repeating the profiling-and-sending
process until a certain volume of e-mails have been
successfully delivered.
Perfect Web Technologies' chief executive,
Thomas DiStefano, said he believes the patent applies
to anyone managing a successful opt-in e-mail marketing
program.
"We believe that it covers the
logical steps that a successful enterprise in the opt-in
industry would have to follow," he said. "I
believe successful businesses have to follow certain
practices. I believe this patent covers those practices."
DiStefano said he first contacted with
InfoUSA on this matter two years ago. He added that
his company has also contacted other firms he believes
are infringing on his patent, but declined to name them.
"A few of the major players in
the industry have been contacted and we will be contacting
the industry at large for licensing and business opportunities,"
DiStefano said.
John Longwell, InfoUSA's staff counsel,
said DiStefano approached the firm in 2005 to propose
a joint venture of some sort and that InfoUSA did not
pursue it.
"Just recently, he [DiStefano]
hired a law firm which specializes in patent litigation
to try and monetize some of his patents," said
Longwell. "Apparently, they've had a shift in their
business plan from trying to do something productive
with their patents to trying to sue other folks over
them. We had an opportunity to take a look at the patent
and we don't see how it's relevant to out business."
Longwell added: "We obviously don't
think we're infringing and we're going to defend the
lawsuit fully."
Meanwhile, DiStefano said he chose to
start with InfoUSA because: "You start at the top.
They're the biggest and best and they're practicing
in our area, using our technology."
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Sues InfoUSA Claiming Patent Infringement