Case Study: Fortune 100 Electronics Company achieves case-winning prior art and resolves infringement litigation with RWS CrowdSearch

Infringement Uncovering case-winning prior art for a Fortune 100 electronics company

A Fortune 100 electronics company faced an infringement suit from a Non‑Practicing Entity over technology in a core product and could not rely on previously used prior art because it had already been cited in court. Internal teams and traditional prior art firms spent weeks searching global databases with no success, leaving the company with the prospect of settling for millions or finding new, case‑winning prior art.

The company engaged RWS IP Research to run a CrowdSearch study, tapping a global crowd to search unconventional sources. The community submitted over 1,500 references (including 150+ non‑patent literature items and 100 non‑US patents) and uncovered four usable prior‑art items—two early‑1980s music magazine articles, a technology magazine article from the early 1980s, and a late‑1980s UK patent application—which supported an invalidity contention, helped resolve the infringement case, and allowed the client to avoid settlement and refocus on product development.