Paciolan Wins Patent Case

A federal judge in Delaware has ruled that former Ticketmaster subsidiary Paciolan, which was sold to Comcast-Spectacor last year, did not infringe upon a patent held by Veritix’s Flash Seats.

Flash Seats filed suit against Paciolan in 2007, claiming patent infringement of Flash Seats’ “method of electronically exchanging tickets for an event in a secondary market from ticket sellers to ticket buyers at remote terminals,” according to court documents.

However, U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark recently granted Paciolan’s bid for summary judgment in the long-running case after finding Flash Seats’ claims against Paciolan invalid and Flash Seats’ patent indefinite.

Specifically, the court noted that Flash Seats’ patent describes an entirely paperless ticketing system that allows users to gain access to an event “without presenting a personalized physical material.”

However, after reviewing Paciolan’s ticketing system, which requires patrons to present either a paper ticket or personal identification card upon entry, the court decided Flash Seats’ infringement claims did not stand.