RULING TRIGGERS FIRM COURT DEADLINES AND A QUICK PATH TOWARD TRIAL
Lenexa, KS, July 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digital Ally, Inc. (NASDAQ: DGLY) is pleased to announce a significant development in its litigation against Axon Enterprise, Inc. (“Axon” formerly TASER International, Inc.). In one of the most case-critical rulings of a patent litigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas issued its claim construction order, siding with Digital Ally across the board as to the meaning of certain claim terms disputed by the parties. In doing so, the Court rejected Axon’s attempt to unduly narrow Digital Ally’s patent rights and confirmed that Digital’s patent claims are not indefinite, as Axon alleged.
Not only does the Court’s ruling side with Digital Ally substantively, it also triggers firm deadlines for the remainder of the litigation, rapidly moving the case toward trial. The parties must now complete fact discovery over the next 60 days and the schedule sets a January 4, 2019 deadline to file all dispositive and Daubert motions—the last substantive and evidentiary challenges before proceeding to trial. This leaves only pretrial matters to be conducted early in the new year before Digital Ally gets to present its case to a jury.
In parallel litigation brought by Digital Ally against Enforcement Video, LLC (d/b/a WatchGuard Video) (“WatchGuard”), WatchGuard agreed to be bound by the Court’s claim construction in the Axon case. Accordingly, WatchGuard can no longer pursue the invalidity arguments and attempts to narrow Digital Ally’s patent rights rejected by the Court in the Axon case. The litigation against WatchGuard will now proceed toward trial on roughly a similar schedule as Axon.
“Axon and WatchGuard have attacked our intellectual property rights from every angle since the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued multiple patents covering our ground-breaking auto-activation technology for law enforcement cameras,” said Stanton Ross, Digital Ally’s CEO. “Having successfully weathered five separate validity challenges filed by Axon at the Patent Office and its attempts to significantly narrow our patent scope in the District Court, we are grateful to finally push this case toward trial,” said Ross. “We are confident that a Kansas jury will recognize the hard work and ingenuity that led to our patent portfolio and will hold both Axon and WatchGuard accountable for their infringement of our patented technology,” Ross concluded.
About Digital Ally
Digital Ally, Inc., headquartered in Lenexa, KS, specializes in the design and manufacturing of the highest quality video recording equipment and video analytic software. Digital Ally pushes the boundaries of technology in industries such as law enforcement, emergency management, commercial fleets, and consumer use. Digital Ally’s complete product solutions include in-car and body cameras, cloud and local management software, and automatic recording technology. These products work seamlessly together and are simple to install and operate. Digital Ally products are sold by domestic direct sales representatives and international distributors worldwide.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations or forecasts of future events, can be affected by inaccurate assumptions, and are subject to various business risks and known and unknown uncertainties, a number of which are beyond the control of management. Therefore, actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. A wide variety of factors that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: the schedule upon which the Company’s litigation against Axon Enterprise, Inc. and WatchGuard will proceed; whether the Company will prevail in its patent litigation against Axon and WatchGuard; the amount of any damages that might be awarded to the Company if it is successful in the litigation; competition from larger, more established companies with far greater economic and human resources; its ability to attract and retain customers and quality employees; and the effect of changing economic conditions. These cautionary statements should not be construed as exhaustive or as any admission as to the adequacy of the Company’s disclosures. It cannot predict or determine after the fact what factors would cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements or other statements. The reader should consider statements that include the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "should", or other expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events or trends, to be uncertain and forward-looking. Digital Ally does not undertake to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional information respecting factors that could materially affect the Company and its operations are contained in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2018, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.