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XFIRE™ FILES COUNTERSUIT AGAINST YAHOO
Countersuit states that Yahoo’s lawsuit is a baseless attempt to drive Xfire out of business or to force Xfire to sell or license its proprietary technology
MENLO PARK, CA, March 10, 2005 — XfireTM Inc., the fastest growing online gaming platform and community, announced today it has filed an answer and countersuit in United States District Court in response to a lawsuit filed by Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO).
Yahoo had previously filed a lawsuit against Xfire for allegedly infringing U.S. patent number 6,699,125 (the ‘125 patent). In today’s filing Xfire refutes all allegations that it is infringing Yahoo’s patent. In addition, Xfire has filed a countersuit stating that the Yahoo lawsuit is an attempt to drive Xfire out of business (and therefore avoid direct competition in the marketplace) or to force Xfire to sell or license its proprietary technology to Yahoo for far less than fair market value to settle the expensive litigation.
Key points of the Xfire countersuit:
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Yahoo chose to issue the patent infringement lawsuit without sending the commercially usual “cease and desist letter”. Xfire first learned of Yahoo’s complaint the evening before the lawsuit was filed. |
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Xfire, in a good faith attempt to address Yahoo’s concerns about the alleged patent infringement described in the Complaint, attempted to immediately demonstrate that Xfire was not infringing the ‘125 patent as a way to resolve the issue without expensive litigation. Specifically, Xfire offered, in writing, to: |
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Allow Yahoo’s co-founders, David Filo or Jerry Yang, to review Xfire’s code to demonstrate non-infringement of the ‘125 patent; |
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Conduct early mediation in which Xfire would turn over to a neutral third party its code in an effort to resolve this dispute; and |
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Submit the case to binding arbitration in which Xfire would present its code to a retired judge or experienced attorney familiar with patents and technology and patent law. |
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Yahoo has rebuffed each of Xfire’s attempts to resolve this dispute. In fact, Yahoo refuses to respond to Xfire’s offers for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. |
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“We are very disappointed that Yahoo has refused all of our offers to immediately demonstrate we don’t infringe,” said Mike Cassidy, CEO of Xfire, Inc. “The facts of the case will prove we have not infringed.”
In its filing today, Xfire seeks, among other things, dismissal with prejudice of Yahoo’s complaint, an order enjoining Yahoo’s unfair business practices, and damages resulting from Yahoo’s unfair business practices.
The filing is available to the public from the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco, Case No. C 05 00413 (EMC).
Over the past year, Xfire has simplified gaming by launching the following features:
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Friend List for Gamers – Xfire users can see when their friends are online and what games they are currently playing. |
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One-Click Join – Xfire users can see what games their friends are playing and use the one-click join feature to play alongside their friends instantly. |
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Xfire In-Game Messaging – Xfire users can send and receive instant messages while playing in many games without having to minimize or Alt-Tab out of the game. |
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File Download System – Xfire users can subscribe to channels that interest them and Xfire will automatically transmit relevant files to the user’s PC while it is not in use. |
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Stats Tracking – Through automatically updated player profiles, Xfire displays what games users are playing and how many hours they have played them. |
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Game Server Browser - Xfire’s server browser allows users to choose a game server to join without running a separate application. Xfire also keeps track of gamers’ most recently visited servers, favorite servers, and even friends’ favorite servers. |
To download Xfire for free, please visit http://www.xfire.com. Xfire is supported by advertisers and marketers trying to reach the age 18-34 male audience.
About Xfire
Xfire, Inc. (www.xfire.com) is the fastest growing online gaming platform and community in the world. Xfire helps gamers play with their friends much more easily. Xfire is also a server browser, IM, and file download system designed just for gamers. Xfire has over 1 million members in over 100 countries. The company was founded by Dennis "Thresh" Fong (World Champion of Quake) and Mike Cassidy (former CEO of Direct Hit). Xfire is funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and NEA.
