Netword Suit Against Centraal Dismissed

Centraal Corp.
announced Tuesday that on Jan. 8, the Eastern District of Virginia tossed
out a lawsuit filed over the summer by Netword LLC accusing Centraal of patent
infringement.

Both companies provide keyword technology that enables users to type
keywords in a browser instead of a URL to access Web sites.

On July 22, Netword sued Centraal, seeking unspecified damages and alleged
that Centraal “implemented their system in a way that directly infringes on
our patent claims.” Centraal’s RealNames Navigation System and its
RealNames Enabler browser extension were cited as infringing the claims of
Netword’s patent.

The court found the RealNames System and the RealNames Enabler browser
extension did not infringe any of the claims of Netword’s patent.

“We are pleased by the fact that Judge Brinkema properly interpreted the
claims of Netword’s patent and understood that Centraal’s RealNames system,
including the Enabler browser extension, operated in a
fundamentally different way than the system claimed in Netword’s patent,”
said Todd Noah, Centraal’s attorney.

Shep Bostin, vice president of marketing for NetWord said in reaction to
the ruling, “We believe the ruling is in error and will appeal the
decision,” adding that the judgement did not diminish “the validity of our
patent.”

A Centraal spokesman said it will be business as usual at the company.

“Centraal will continue to focus on its
primary goal — to make the RealNames System ubiquitous,” said Centraal
founder and Chief Executive Officer Keith Teare. “Any user, at any time,
and from any place on the Internet should be able to navigate the Web using
RealNames.”