MyMedicalRecords Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of MMRGlobal specializing in providing safe and easy-to-use Personal Health Records (PHR) online. MyMedicalRecords makes it possible for users to store and access their health records, birth certificates, insurance policies, wills, passports and any other important documents online. This company's service is based on proprietary technologies that have patents from the U.S. Patents Office.
However, a few of these PHR patents were believed to have been infringed upon by WebMD, so MMR filed a legal case against WebMD in February 2011 in the U.S. District Court of Central California. As a material inducement for MMR, both the companies decided to negotiate and settle the issue outside the courtroom. The terms and conditions of this agreement stated that there were no time constraints to resolve the dispute and MMR would have the right to refile the case anytime without any prejudice.
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In pursuance of this agreement, the legal counsel of both companies worked together to find a solution to the issue. However, they were unable to come to a mutually beneficial agreement despite efforts on both the ends and, as a result, MMR has decided to refile the patent case against WebMD after all.
During this time, MMR has received an additional patent that WebMD may be infringing upon as well. MMR wants to use this recent patent to its advantage by refiling the case. MMR understands that the business operations of WebMD warrant the need for PHR, but at the same time, it is also looking to protects its patents from infringement.
The best way forward in such a situation is to have a positive relationship between both the companies so that each can continue their business operations with minor tweaks in their respective business plans. The other alternative is to settle in the U.S. Federal Court.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
