01 Communique loses infringement case against LogMeIn

Update: A federal jury in Eastern District of Virginia found that LogMeIn products do not infringe on U.S. Patent No. 6,928,479, as asserted by 01 Communique.

In a statement released just prior to market close, LogMeIn CEO Michael Simon was spirited.

“We are obviously very pleased with the Court’s decision, and we feel this validates LogMeIn’s long-standing tradition of investing in the development of unique and innovative products,” he said. “We will continue to vigorously defend patent lawsuits, and we will not succumb to attempts by litigious parties to profit from our ongoing investments in innovation.”

Shares of LogMeIn were up 19.57% to $21.26 today before being halted. The stock, which resumed trading in the after-market, was down 4.89% at press time.

Earlier story:

Shares of 01 Communique (01 Communique Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:ONE) were halted at 12:47 p.m. PST today, pending news.

With the stock down 63% to $.36 at the time of the halt, investors are betting that the news will be bad.

The company’s case against LogMeIn began on Monday, March 18th. 01 Communique is working with one of the U.S.’s top IP firms, Baker & Hostetler, which has 16 lawyers present at the trial, believes LogMeIn i s infringing on its ‘479 remote access patent. Analyst Ralph Garcea estimates that LogMein has generated more than $400-million in revenue since mid-2005.

01 Communique was founded 1992, when it released a a fax program called 01 Fax. The company began developing remote access software in the late 1990′s, and filed for patents related to this technologies in 2000. 01 was subsequently granted two patents in August, 2005. Although it was the first company to actually be granted patents for remote access, other companies such as Citrix and Bomgar won the space, prompting Communique to explore legal action around its intellectual property portfolio.

01 Communique has a similar case pending against Citrix Systems for its GoToAssist, GoToMeeting, GoToMyPC, GoToTraining, and GoToWebinar products.