Software developer triCerat has won a major patent invalidity lawsuit against Cortado AG, its competitor in Germany.

The Federal Patent Court in Munich, Germany recently ruled that all claims of Cortado's issued patent covering subdivision and allocation of bandwidth in connection with data transmission are invalid.

At the time the original patent application was filed in early 2000, bandwidth of data transmission lines were smaller than today and such lines could get jammed easily when large amounts of data were transmitted at a time.  Many viable solutions were developed in the early 2000s.  Cortado claimed that it had invented a method of subdividing and allocating bandwidth over data transmission lines, allowing for unhindered communication even when large amounts of data are transmitted at the same time.

In 2010, Cortado filed a lawsuit against triCerat's German distributor in Munich, claiming that triCerat's product infringed upon the issued patent. Supporting its distributor channel, triCerat filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Cortado's issued patent.

triCerat explained that, in early 2000, the process for subdividing and allocating bandwidth over data transmission lines was not novel, but well-known and obvious to skilled persons working in the field. Subdivision and allocation of bandwidth was well-known prior to such time, making it prior art to the alleged invention. As a result, the patent held by Cortado was invalid, according to triCerat. The Court agreed with triCerat.

While Cortado has appealed the decision, triCerat President & General Counsel Vasilios Peros said that he is "pleased with the decision," allowing anyone to use such common subdivision and allocation techniques, and looks forward to it being upheld under appeal.