Canadian firm 01 Communique filed suit against Citrix in February in the US District Court, Northern District of Ohio. It says Citrix’s GoToMyPC remote access technology infringes patents in its own I’m InTouch remote access product.
We believe very strongly in the merits of our case against Citrix, said Andrew Cheung, 01 Communique Laboratory’s CEO. We have an excellent product, I’m InTouch, that provides the same solution as Citrix’s GoToMyPC. Growth for I’m InTouch has been severely limited by companies such as Citrix that offer competing products we believe make use of our patented technology. We expect the court will grant our request for an injunction. It is our intention to recapture all the revenue that is rightfully ours.
Cheung said his firm is asking the courts for a permanent injunction against Citrix, as well as damages. Citrix has refused to comment on the lawsuit while the case is ongoing.
01 Communique was awarded a patent for its system of providing access to a personal computer from another remote computer in June 2000, though 01 Communique was founded in 1992. The Citrix GoToMyPC technology came via Citrix’s acquisition of Expertcity, a remote access software vendor that was founded in 1997 — before 01 Communique’s patent was granted.
As well as 01 Communique and GoToMyPC, competitors in the space include Laplink, Microsoft, Access Remote PC, Network Streaming, RealVNC, Anyplace Control, and 3am Labs.
In a recent interview with Computer Business Review, 01 Communique’s CFO Brian Stringer said that the company is currently focused solely on Citrix GoToMyPC, and that he could not comment on whether the company might bring similar suits against any other vendors in the space.
01 Communique Laboratory has not managed to achieve the same sales or brand recognition as Citrix GoToMyPC or indeed several others of its competitors. For its first fiscal quarter ended January 31st it posted sales of $156,356, with an operating loss of $345,233. It only had $808,000 cash left at that time, and in April it duly raised a further $1.2m in financing.
Citrix, in comparison, made $32m from its Citrix Online division that houses the GoToMyPC product in its first quarter this year.
