E-Stamp Corp. has entered into an agreement with Pitney Bowes Inc. to settle all litigation between the companies.
The litigation, which included patent infringement claims by Pitney Bowes and antitrust counterclaims by E-Stamp, was resolved without admission of liability. E-Stamp has paid a settlement amount to Stamford, CT-based Pitney Bowes and expects to recover insurance proceeds that will largely offset the cost of settlement. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
“Our settlement not only allows both companies to avoid the continuing costs and distractions of litigation but also permits E-Stamp to focus on completing its merger with Learn2.com,” said Robert Ewald, president/CEO of Mountain View, CA-based E-Stamp Corp.
On April 20, E-Stamp announced it had entered into a merger agreement to acquire online learning provider Learn2.com.
Pitney Bowes, however, still faces a lawsuit from Stamps.com Inc., an online postage vendor based in Santa Monica, CA. The lawsuit alleges that the postage equipment giant is infringing on four of Stamps.com's Internet postage patents.
The four patents were held by Salim Kara, founder of E-Stamp Corp. In April, Stamps.com acquired E-Stamp's assets, including its name and 31 patents. E-Stamp pulled out of the Internet-based postage industry in November and now focuses on the e-learning market.
Pitney Bowes has patent-infringement suits of its own against Stamps.com dating to 1999.
The Pitney Bowes lawsuits against Stamps.com involve both online postage and shipping patents. In September, Pitney Bowes said Stamps.com was infringing on four shipping patents, including one covering the use of electronic data interchange for tracking and rate information.
