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The Cabrera Firm, APC and the Law Offices of Manuel de la Cerra, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has invalidated each of the 27 patent claims asserted by Wave Loch Inc. in its patent infringement claim against American Wave Machines, Inc. (AWM).
AWM is a Solana Beach-based innovative wave technology company with an extensive and growing patent portfolio. In 2008, Wave Loch sued AWM claiming infringement of three patents, despite the fact that AWM offers an authentic surfing machine as opposed to Wave Loch’s dated thin sheet water flow. AWM denied infringement and aggressively sought reexamination of the patents at issue which it believes are invalid.
“This was a great victory for American Wave Machines as it confirms our belief that Wave Loch’s patents were largely invalid and allows American Wave Machines to freely compete based on the wave quality and value of its wave machine products, ” said Gil Cabrera, counsel for AWM.
Using a small and efficient team, AWM was able to defend this patent infringement action with minimal cost and distraction to the company’s management. From its initiation to stay, the case took approximately nine months.
The USPTO issued a final rejection finding all of the patent claims that Wave Loch had asserted against AWM invalid based on prior art dating back to 1967.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. This is a complete unequivocal victory and vindication for AWM, ” said Manuel de la Cerra, patent counsel for AWM responsible for the prosecution of the reexamination requests as well as AWM’s broad patent portfolio. “At this point, Wave Loch has nothing valid left in these patents to assert against AWM in the pending infringement suit. The Patent Office’s final rejection of all of the asserted claims confirms what we have known all along, Wave Loch’s technology is just a re-hash of what has been known in the art for decades.
American Wave Machines’ ‘standing wave’ technology is the true innovation in the industry, and has been recognized as such by being awarded several patents.”
Solana Beach based, AWM is represented by The Cabrera Firm, in association with the Law Offices of Manuel de la Cerra. Both law firms are based in San Diego.
Wave Loch, Inc. is based in San Diego and represented by Knobbe, Martens, Olsen & Bear LLP.
