Amphion wins key judgement in patent infringement appeal

Shares in AIM-listed Amphion were flying on Tuesday after the technology business won a key patent decision in the US courts.The company had appealed to the US court of appeal as it felt the '502 patent', owned by its subsidary DataTern, had been infringed by several companies.The federal circuit court has now concluded that DataTern's claim was correct and referred the case back to the district court so that DataTern may proceed with its patent infringement case.Amphion chief executive Richard Morgan said: "This result confirms our view that the '502 Patent' has been infringed."The '502' patent covers certain novel methods that enable certain software applications access data stored in most databases."We continue to believe that companies that are using or want to use our patented technology will wish to enter into equitable licensing agreements," Morgan added. "Our goal remains to generate a fair and reasonable return on the very substantial investment we have made over many years in the development of this innovative technology."