A New York federal judge has temporarily blocked Perry Street Software from moving a patent infringement dispute with Jedi Technologies into arbitration.
The small Arizona-based company is alleging that SCRUFF violates its patent, relating to a system which determines compatibility based on the couple’s personal information. The initial patent infringement was filed in May.
Perry Street Software is claiming that Brian Haan, Jedi’s legal counsel, downloaded its subsidiary and therefore accepted the terms of service which state that legal issues of this nature must be settled outside of the courts.
However, US District Judge Colleen McMahon agreed that Haan needed to download the app in order to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before filing. She also stated that the actions of a lawyer were not automatically tied to their client.
Law360 reports thatMcMahon explained: “Establishing only that there is an agent-client relationship, or that the relationship is mutually beneficial, is insufficient. As a matter of law, it does not appear that Perry Street has the better of this argument
“Haan signed Jedi’s pleadings in this court. Given his status as a lawyer, this court can draw some inferences about why he downloaded this particular dating app.”
Eric Silverberg, CEO of Perry Street Software, claims that he had previously never heard of Jedi Technologies or its patents.
Jedi Technologies does have a history of filing complaints against dating companies over patent infringement. Both Ashley Madison and Spark Networks have been targeted in the past.
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