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This is a repost from Algobloffer on Reddit from a year ago about the Paltalk lawsuit.
PCSC Paltalk Update 2/21/23
Paltalk Holdings, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., WebEx Communications, Inc. et al
Texas Western District Court
Judge: Alan D Albright
Case #: 6:21-cv-00757
Nature of Suit: 830 Property Rights - Patent
Cause: 35:271 Patent Infringement
PCSC Paltalk Update 2/21 – Nothing in the process has changed our position (see #4 below) on the merits. The hedge with our initial report was standard in that the litigation process often yields surprises as it plays out and there remained key determinants that were unknowable until each stage was complete. The results are:
1. Venue (no changes, advantage Paltalk) - Paltalk’s first big victory in this process was having the case assigned to Judge Albright, who is widely known in patent litigation circles due to his background litigating patent disputes as an attorney and for his efficiency in handling patent litigation since being appointed as a Judge. The first full year after his appointment to the bench saw almost 25% of all patent cases filed in Judge Albright’s district but a July 25 order from West Texas’s chief judge now distributes all Waco filed patent cases among a pool of 12 judges around the district (including Judge Albright). This is the most favorable venue for Paltalk by far and making it through the process without a change of venue is a big win for Paltalk.
2. Claims Construction (Markman hearing – advantage Paltalk) - a big win for Paltalk in that Judge Albright’s order used Paltalk’s definitions for 3 of the 4 disputed claim terms and for the 4th used the plain and ordinary meaning from Paltalk's own filing that the claim applies to all "PC-based equipment". See 1-4 below for the details.
1 - The court has ruled in Plaintiff's (Paltalk) favor on the definition of "multiplexed stream" that applies to claims 1,2,6 and 7. Defendant's (Cisco) submission of a more limited definition was rejected.
2- the court has ruled that Plaintiff's claim term of "PC-based equipment" that applies to claims 4 and 9 will have its plain and ordinary meaning per Defendant's filing.
3 - the court has ruled in Plaintiff's favor adding Structure: Mixer 118 in figures 1 and 2 for claim 7 that Defendant proposed to exclude.
4- the court has ruled in Plaintiff's favor adding Structure: Mixer 118 in figures 1 and 2 for claim 8 that Defendant proposed to exclude.
This was a big win for Paltalk and led many to speculate that Cisco might seek to settle the case in the aftermath. No settlement offer was disclosed but the claims construction definitions measurably increased the likelihood of Paltalk prevailing in court.
3) USPTO Ruling (Cisco Rejected – advantage Paltalk)– Ex Parte Reexamination process; the Examiner rejected Cisco’s arguments that all asserted claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,683,858 are invalid in light of certain prior art. Historically, this process has been a powerful tool for defendants seeking invalidation of a patent and has resulted in negative implications for the patent owner nearly 80% of the time through either cancellation or by narrowing the claims. Cisco got completely rejected, gaining in neither respect and would have actually been better off if they hadn't gone this route. This was the biggest win for Paltalk in the litigation process thus far.
4) Merits of the Case (Generally - advantage Paltalk) – we believe very strongly that Paltalk’s U.S. Patent No. 6,683,858 was being infringed by Webex since soon after the company was acquired by Cisco. This patent offers a method of providing audio conferencing for a plurality of clients using varying equipment and protocols. The method depicted in the diagrams for the ‘858 patent are designed to allow for “cross platform collaboration” so everyone on the conference call can communicate regardless whether they are on a PC, Mac, landline or mobile. Cross platform collaboration was a widely known weakness of WebEx when Cisco acquired the company in 2007. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington says it best in one of many articles written detailing the acquisition that points to WebEx’s need to improve “cross platform collaboration” as a key factor (See “Cisco Buys Webex for $3.2 Billion” here) saying “Webex is still ubiquitous (I am asked to view a WebEx presentation almost daily), but it’s expensive and bulky. And if you aren’t on a newish Windows PC, there’s a good chance it isn’t going to work properly.” And just as a practical matter, anyone old enough to remember doing a WebEx (before Cisco acquired them) with many users who were using different platforms likely remembers how difficult and sometimes impossible it could be. The infringing functionality appears to have been added to Webex’s products in the years soon after their acquisition by Cisco.
5) Recent Cases in Judge Albright’s courtroom – earlier this month Parkervision’s infringement suit vs. Intel was settled at the start of the trial for $25m. A settlement of this size by a big tech defendant (Intel) vs. a Non-Practicing Entity plaintiff (Parkervision) sets an interesting backdrop for the next trial of a small company vs. big tech defendant in this courtroom. Paltalk is a much stronger Plaintiff for a jury trial than Parkervision in that Paltalk actually uses its patented technology for a business purpose and has for the better part of two decades. Some would call Parkervision a patent troll because most of their revenue comes from suing companies for infringement of their owned patents, though we think there are others that better fit that description. Regardless of how you view Parkervision, such a settlement sets a really good tone for a stronger plaintiff case vs. an even larger (Cisco is 2x size of Intel) defendant with a track record for litigation conduct that leads to enhanced damages.
Bottom line – the litigation process has been very favorable to Paltalk’s prospects since our last update. We believe these interim developments increase the probability of a Paltalk verdict and extend the potential range. This should materially impact the likelihood and amount of settlement offers prior to a trial verdict. In our view settlement remains the most likely outcome.
Also Cisco needs to convince EU antitrust regulators that it is not a big company that will trample the rights of smaller competitors to complete deal to buy Splunk. Its one extra reason to settle any lawsuits that would make it appear to use its size and reach to stifle competition. The last thing they need is those kinds of headlines before May 13 decision from EU
Looks like judge has denied Cisco’s motion for a delay. Trial set for April. Might hasten settlement attempts.
This one is baffling. great news continues to break and it remains stagnant!
They don't have institutions buying yet macd is low...
We break to the up side starting Monday $PALT
This stock never makes any sense to me. I thought they had valuable patents, but then the stock trades so low with a market cap equal to about the value of cash on hand.... Which implies that they have no value beyond cash on hand. What gives!??!
PALT: Big-time NEWS (click below); could SOAR tomorrow, indeed!!! 23%+ UP on E-Turd's "Extended Hours" view!! May jump-on-it right out of the starting gate!!! (I know that ain't too smart, but HUGE frickin' NEWS!!!)
https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/06/09/2460107/0/en/Paltalk-Inc-Announces-Acquisition-of-Visicom-s-ManyCam-Assets.html
Selling DWAC and getting on board with PALT!
I’m in, looks like it’s about to do something !
$PALT
Absolutely agree. Exciting!
If Trump/DWAC talk is legit, will go much higher than 5. With every Truth Social delay it becomes more likely that Trump pushes ahead with the rest of his social media strategy and acquires Paltalk to get a jump start.
For sure. The chart looks great too
Good action today
I do not but good volume today
Is there a Paltalk / Trump deal? The relative strength for PALT against the backdrop of such a huge selloff across the board screams that there is something going on and it happening the day after Truth Social launched makes me go hmmmmmmmm. Looks like the CEO is presenting at a conference Friday morning, guess we will know something soon. Anyone on here know what is going on?
More mentions on stocktwits about DWAC and Rumble connections for PALT, plus a noticeable uptick in volume traded. Was all day long too along with several 10k-25K block purchases above the ask price. Also, lots of 200-300 share trades all day long pushed us to green and a very high volume day when most of the market was red
Nothing but thx for the information
Several posts on Stocktwits today about Paltalk being a takeover candidate and several more talking about Paltalk ties with the new Trump Social Media service. The stock traded about 30,000 shares in the first 6 hours and then about 300,000 the last 30 minutes. So I don't know if its one of these or both of these pushing the stock, but no way it goes from not trading to a huge volume like that for no reason. Anyone over here hearing anything?
It’s clear there is already a frenzied battle to build a position here based on after hours games being played. I’m with you Jerry, this looks like anticipation of the gaming/NFT app acquisition.
The best way to look at this is not SP, but MC.
If they do complete that type of acquisition, the U25 demographic will explode and market cap could be propelled from the current $35 million range to 10x that amount, making them an acquisition target themselves in the $500+ mil range.
PALT buying game dev w/ NFT division is what is being said by some closer to the action than I. MACK and JDheart, you two seem to know more than most about goings on at Paltalk and how it will impact the stock - tell us your take.
Good call Mack! You were all over this one. In today's Sea of red, Paltalk was down 7% early this morning, then rallied to end the day up 13%. The fundamentals here are really extraordinary for a NASDAQ listed tech stock. The assets, the earnings, all of it looks like most tech stocks but its valuation is a tiny fraction of most. Thats probably why the CEO just spent almost 1/3 of his annual salary buying Paltalk stock on the open market. This stock is still extremely cheap even after today's move.
Runner runner! Market starting to embrace the fundamentals, when they realize the potential that NFTs have to multiply the earnings 10x, look out.
New DD just released. NFT market could be huge, mechanism already in place with their “virtual gift” exchange.
https://seekingalpha.com/instablog/91894-john-gilliam/5666612-paltalks-nft-pivot-and-social-media-surge
Short Sellers of PALT getting desperate! Did you see the post a few minutes ago about hackers? Supposedly from a Paltalk user. Notice that they just joined Investors Hub today and this is the first message they have ever posted!!!
Hackers on Paltalk! Well then you would think they could pay to secure their servers. They have an exploit allowing a few hackers to go in and menace paying customers by changing their profiles. I have had my photos deleted and my public profile calling me words like fatty. As well as had my entire friend list of 10 years building deleted by these hackers. When telling the manager of their red hats the ongoings they are aware and never do anything. It is been past a year and still nothing is done. Also, they log into people's accounts to boot them off the program as well. Since one instance can only be open per username. They care nothing for their paying customers and aid and abed the hackers. I have proof of it.
From PCC - 11/24 - Buy Paltalk (PALT) - Paltalk approached by suitor may be other indications of interest. Timing of recent sell off suggests stock may be being suppressed by parties seeking to buy the company cheap, seizing on weakness following stock sale to maneuver it lower. PALT sold stock to have cash for acquisition(s), will be entering NFT space and we expect this to be transformative. No intel on target (Props NFT WIP?) but could have Q4 impact and balance sheet transformed in 22.
The skinny - Paltalk sells "virtual gifts" that can only be gifted (not sold) inside the network, with sale of $10.5m+ over last two years, but even higher annual sales prior to merger with Snap. Execs say drop-off was due in large part to focus shift to blockchain dev. Expect sharp revenue spike when NFT version goes live and resources allocated to that line. If demand for $5m+ for virtual stickers that can only be gifted inside the network, how many will they sell of NFT version that can be traded and sold for profit on NFT exchanges? These have near 100% margins, expect to double virtual goods (both stickers and NFT version) sales upon intro but we think that may be conservative given what was sold in prior years and retail demand for NFTs in primary and secondary markets.
Interesting, I'd heard some of that chatter too and now hearing more about others.
Dam*n that 20 year chart is on the up and up lol
$PALT
Apparently Lockheed Martin too "Experienced volatility"
What a crock.