US: Transportation authority fights own battle against patent trolls

The American Public Transit Association filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against two companies that develop messaging systems for transportation status updates over allegations the defendants are using their patents to initiate their own lawsuits against transit authorities. According to reports, APTA is sing ArrivalStar and Melvino transit companies; court documents claim ArrivalStar, based in Luxembourg, launched ten lawsuits against government transportation companies for using ArrivalStar patents without a license. The patents pertain to technology that provides arrival updates through a messaging system. The APTA claims the defendants deliberately initiate those lawsuits for quick settlements. The case filing comes days after Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez announced a new agenda to fight so-called patent trolls, which are said to initiate litigation in excess against companies using their patents.

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