3M Sues EnvisionWare, Claims Patent Infringement

Dispute over self-service circulation technology and RFID accessories

Josh Hadro -- Library Journal, 11/5/2009

• Three patents at issue
• Neither side will comment
• No damages specified and no trial date set

A lawsuit alleging patent infringement has been brought by 3M—which operates 3M Library Systems—against competitor EnvisionWare, regarding the development and sales of self-check circulation products and handheld radio frequency identification (RFID) accessories.

Both 3M and EnvisionWare said they had no comment pending ongoing litigation, and the defendant has yet to file a response in court.

Basis of lawsuit
Documents submitted by 3M to the U.S. District Court in Minnesota contend that “in the mid-1990s 3M began a multi-year, multi-million dollar research and development project to improve library systems technology.” The company then applied for and received a number of patents pertaining to both self-check and RFID technology.

3M then claims that “EnvisionWare is a company that has been in a position to observe 3M’s innovative library systems technology for more than a decade” and that infringing products from EnvisionWare include its LibraryPDA, as well as its self-service circulation systems. The complaint rests on three patents approved between 2001 and 2005.

In 2008, 3M spent $1.4 billion on research and development, and was awarded 561 U.S. patents, according to the company. Over the last two years, 3M has filed at least ten patent infringement lawsuits in federal court, including the suit brought against EnvisionWare.

As industry analyst Marshall Breeding noted in a post on Library Technology Guides, no damages have yet been specified, nor has a trial date been set.