By: PRESS RELEASE
SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com
Category: Patent News
Ameranth's 7,431,650 patent includes confirmed valid claims which broadly cover a system encompassing virtually all critical operations of the modern poker room - including player seating, public displays, tournaments, dealer rotation/tracking, player tracking (at room level or at/or from poker tables), security, wireless/internet connections, interfaces to at the table shuffling machines and many other key aspects of the modern poker room.
Ameranth filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on February 2, 2011 (asserting infringement of U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,431,650 and 7,878,909) against defendants including Genesis Gaming Solutions, Inc., IT Casino Solutions LLC, Hollywood Park Casino, Inc., California Commerce Club, Inc. and Normandie Club, LP and later added Hustler Casino as an additional defendant. Subsequently, Hollywood Park Casino and Normandie Club (as well as others) took licenses to Ameranth's patents.
Hoping to escape its substantial infringement liabilities, Genesis Gaming filed a Reexamination Request on July 28, 2011 seeking to invalidate Ameranth's patent and all of its claims. However, despite all of Genesis' efforts and in spite of the best alleged prior art references that Genesis was able to locate and present to the Patent Office, 27 claims (including those covering all aspects of the modern poker room) were confirmed valid by the U.S. Patent Office on February 27, 2012. Genesis' attempt to invalidate Ameranth's second gaming patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,878,909 - focused only on dealer tracking/rotation) is still pending review within the Patent Office. However, Ameranth is confident of success on that reexamination as well and, regardless, dealer tracking/rotation claims have already been confirmed valid as part of the February 27, 2012 Patent Office ruling. Further, Ameranth has yet another patent pending with still more claims in the gaming/poker segment as well.
"We are very excited that the United States Patent Office has confirmed the validity of our strategic poker room automation patent," said Vern Yates, Ameranth's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We were confident of success and knew that the defendants' attempt to invalidate this industry leading and breakthrough patent would fail, which it did. We will be offering licenses to this technology for the companies and casinos/poker rooms employing it or seeking to employ it" - added Yates.
Ameranth's industry leading automated poker systems are deployed in many casinos and operate in several of the largest and most prestigious poker rooms worldwide.
