Auction Management Solutions, Inc. Sues to Stop Patent Infringement

Business Wire, March 10, 2005

TAMPA, Fla. -- Auction Management Solutions, Inc., creator of the OnLine Ringman(SM) auction integration system, today filed a patent infringement lawsuit against automobile auction giant Manheim Auctions, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. and Canadian corporation Live Global Communications of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

The action, which asks for a preliminary injunction against the two companies, was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta. The publicly available litigation papers and a link to AMS's U.S. Patent can be found at http://www.auctionsolutions.com/innovations.shtm.

The lawsuit alleges infringement of AMS Patent No. 6,813,612. Entitled "Remote Bidding Supplement for Traditional Live Auctions," the patent makes certain aspects of the system and process of integrating a live auction audience with a remote auction audience proprietary, meaning they cannot be improperly imitated. The patent won approval in November 2004.

AMS President and CEO Nancy J. Rabenold said that the granting of the patent recognized the groundbreaking work done by her company. "Our patented technology has revolutionized the remarketing industry by allowing a remote audience to be integrated with a live auction without putting either kind of bidder at a disadvantage," she said.

The lawsuits against Manheim and Live Global Communications contend that the two companies are using systems that appear to be strikingly similar to AMS's OnLine Ringman(SM), Rabenold said. She said that her company bore the research and development costs for the system and will not allow others to unfairly profit from AMS's innovations.

Auction Management Solutions created these processes through the 1990s. In 1999, AMS introduced its OnLine Ringman(SM)product to the automotive auction industry. After overcoming initial industry skepticism, the system quickly showed it would produce higher average prices for automobiles. Major auction houses - including Manheim - soon adopted the new AMS system.

After successfully using the AMS product for some time, Manheim switched to its own integration system, known as Simulcast, and discontinued using OnLine Ringman(SM). According to its website, Manheim is the single largest owner and operator of automotive auction houses in the world.

Others, including Live Global Communications, have also entered this growing market sub-segment. While Manheim is an auction house owner, Live Global Communications is a vendor of auction integration systems to auction houses. Its integration system is known commercially as Live Global Bid.