
Repairify and Elitek reach settlement in patent infringement case
By onLegal
A nearly four-year patent infringement lawsuit by Repairify against Keystone Automotive Industries/Elitek has been settled.
The suit alleged that Keystone, an LKQ subsidiary doing business as Elitek, infringed on three of Repairify’s remote servicing and programming system and method patents on vehicles through an OBD or OBD-II interface. It was filed Aug. 9, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
“We are pleased to reach a resolution in this case. Repairify believes in its technology and will continue to deliver unique services to customers,” said Craig Edmonds, president of asTech, Driven by Repairify, Inc., in a statement to Repairer Driven News.
“As vehicles become more high-tech and the intricacy of repair work increases, it is critical companies like Repairify innovate and defend intellectual property.”
Repairify didn’t disclose any of the settlement agreement details.
In 2022, Elitek moved to dismiss Repairify’s claims that it owned two of the patents, arguing that Repairify lacked standing and the documents produced didn’t establish its ownership. Repairify’s ownership claim on the third patent was dismissed in May after which Repairify asked the dismissal be reconsidered. In June, the court denied reconsideration and granted summary judgment.
Also in June, the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the dispute and spent the next six weeks trying to finalize a formal written agreement, according to background information provided in Repairify’s Sept. 19 motion. However, by July 26, the parties had reached an impasse on several key terms, leading Elitek to file a motion to enforce a settlement.
Attorneys and media contacts for Keystone/Elitek didn’t respond to RDN’s request for comment by the publication deadline.
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