On Monday the 24th of December, the day after Ring Plus filed its
motion to disqualify AT&T attorneys from the law firm of Baker Botts,
Ring Plus filed a Sealed Motion of Summary Judgment of Infringement
asking the Court to make a ruling based on undisputed facts.
Ring Plus, based in Longview, Texas, is the holder of U.S. patent
No. 7,006,608, invented by Karl Seelig et al. and granted by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office on February 28, 2006. This
patent claims a software-based algorithm for operation of a telephone
system in which a generated sound presentation can replace or overlay
a ring-back signal normally heard in a caller´s telephone until such
time as a recipient of a telephone call answers (otherwise known as a
ring-back tone or "RBT"). AT&T offers Answer Tones Service which is
described by AT&T as a way to "Save your friends from having to listen
to that plain old ring when they call you. Answer Tones let your
friends enjoy cool music before you answer your phone." The value of
RBT replacement technology is globally USD 2.7 Billion and increasing.
Ring Plus filed its lawsuit for patent infringement on April 14, 2006.
According to Technology Law 360, Cingular started selling Answer Tones
ring back services on its website for USD .99 per month in 2005.
AT&T´s website is currently offering Answer Tones for USD 1.99 a
download, plus a monthly subscription rate of USD .99.
The case number is 2:06-cv-0159
The Attorneys representing Cingular Wireless LLC, AT&T wireless
services Inc. are: Larry Carlson, Doug Kubehl, David Taylor, Michael
Jones, and Diane DeVasto.
The Attorneys representing Ring Plus are: Frederic M. Douglas,
Jerry L. Mowery, Timothy Midgley, Sang Dang, and George Fountain
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