Here's the statement that we have received...
N2IT Holding B.V. filed a complaint in federal court against M-Audio LLC alleging that the defendant's Torq Conectiv Vinyl/CD product infringes N2IT's patent on the technology.
The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based N2IT seeks an injunction preventing the use, sale, offer for sale and marketing of M-Audio's Torq Conectiv Vinyl/CD product. N2IT also seeks damages fro M-Audio's alleged past infringement. N2IT claims that M-Audio is infringing the patent it holds for its Final Scratch product, which allows disc jockeys to use a special time-coded record on a record player or its equivalent to manually control and play digital music from a computer. N2IT has also licensed the use of its patents for this technology to other companies.
"Final Scratch is noted as an industry leader, including being ranked one of the 'Best Ideas of 2001' by The New York Times," said John Acquaviva, CEO of N2IT. "The unauthorized use of this technology is irreparably harming our existing business."
According to the lawsuit, N2IT developed, sold, and marketed the highly innovative Final Scratch product. N2IT alleges that M-Audio sells a similar product, Torq Conectiv Vinyl/CD, which functions the same as Final Scratch and as described in N2IT's patent.
"We filed this lawsuit for one simple reason. N2IT's property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited. Our system of rewarding inventors for their innovative ideas is jeopardized when intellectual property rights are ignored," said Jeff Boggs, a Washington, D.C., intellectual property litigation and patent prosecution partner with Bingham McCutchen LLP, who is representing N2IT.
N2IT's technology created a previously nonexistent industry. Since its inception, the technology has won numerous awards from industry publications, and many of the world's top-ranked DJs use N2IT's technology.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk, is N2IT Holding B.V. v. M-Audio LLC.
