LeadPoint Announces Settlement of Multi-Party Patent Litigation
LeadPoint and Autobytel Announce Settlement of Multi-Party Patent LitigationIrvine and Brentwood, Calif. (April 23, 2009) –LeadPoint, Inc. and Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq: ABTL) today announced that, along with Internet Brands and Insweb Corporation., they have entered into a settlement agreement resolving Autobytel’s lawsuit filed against LeadPoint, Internet Brands and Insweb in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, relating to Autobytel’s U.S. Patent Number 6,282,517 for lead technology.
The settlement agreement also resolves a patent claim filed by Insweb, Internet Brands and LeadPoint against Autobytel and others in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California related to Insweb’s U.S. Patent No. 6,898,597 for lead management technology.
“We are very pleased to have reached this settlement with LeadPoint, which enables us all to continue the very important task of leveraging the unique power of Internet technology to help our customers weather this challenging climate and to begin exploring ways in which our firms can work together,” said Jeffrey Coats, President and CEO of Autobytel Inc.
“We are glad that an amicable resolution to this litigation has been reached,” said Marc Diana of LeadPoint. “We look forward to exploring the possibility of commercial opportunities with Autobytel leveraging our pioneering lead technology platform.”
The terms of the agreement are subject to certain confidentiality restrictions.
About LeadPoint
Founded in 2004, LeadPoint is the world’s first and largest leads exchange marketplace. Leads are competitively priced based on criteria and bidding by members of the LeadPoint community. The platform allows buyers to change bids in real time, and enables sellers to more efficiently sell leads and to enter multiple verticals simultaneously. LeadPoint trades leads in numerous verticals, including consumer lending, consumer credit, education, and autos, and provides a single platform that allows thousands of buyers and sellers to simultaneously engage in trading leads. The privately held company is based in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit LeadPoint at http://www.leadpoint.com and http://www.leadpoint.co.uk.
About Autobytel Inc.
Autobytel Inc. (“Autobytel” or the “Company”) is an automotive marketing services company that assists automotive dealers and manufacturers sell cars. By connecting consumers to automotive dealers and manufacturers through internet lead referral programs and on-line advertising, the Company provides automotive dealers and manufacturers with opportunities to efficiently market their vehicles to potential customers. The Company purchases from third party sites and generates from its owned websites consumer internet requests for pricing and availability for new and used vehicles as well as for vehicle financing (these consumer internet requests are referred to as “Leads”). The Company sells the Leads primarily to its automotive dealer and manufacturer customers. Leads are purchased from a network of supplier websites, such as Edmunds.com, AOL, Kelley Blue Book and Yahoo!. The Company owns consumer-facing automotive websites, including Autobytel.com®, Autoweb.com®, AutoSite.com®, Car.comsm, CarSmart.com®, CarTV.com®, and MyRide.com®, that provide consumers with information and tools to aid them with their automotive purchase decisions. In addition to advertising opportunities on its owned websites, the Company provides advertising opportunities for automotive manufacturers and other automotive advertisers through the Company’s marketing network, which includes the automotive sections of third party co-branded websites operated by the Company, such as ESPN.com and the Company’s AutoReach advertising network.
Contact
Autobytel Media Relations
Crystal Hartwell, 949.437.4755,
Autobytel Investor Relations
Crystal Hartwell, 949.437.4755,
Roger Pondel/Laurie Berman, PondelWilkinson Inc., 310.279.5980,
LeadPoint, Inc.
David LaPerle, 310.209.8641,
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