Seattle - RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) announced on Tuesday that it has defeated a legal effort by Friskit to revive a patent infringement suit against the company that sought more than $70 million in damages.

A judge granted summary judgment for RealNetworks back in 2007 in the dispute over technology that lets users easily search for and listen to streaming media.

"The Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. upheld a 2007 ruling in which Judge William W. Schwarzer of the Northern District of California invalidated all asserted claims," the company said today.

"RealNetworks was one of the first patent defendants to rely upon the Supreme Court's decision in KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. Judge Schwarzer agreed that Friskit's 'inventions' were nothing more than obvious combinations of elements found in the prior art, including RealNetworks' own products."

The company won a similar judgment in a patent suit brought by Ethos Technologies in 2006.

"Once again we have demonstrated that we will not be pressured into taking a license for technology we do not use and patents we do not infringe," said Robert Kimball, SVP and general counsel for RealNetworks.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/9yxkn

http://snipurl.com/9yxxs (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.realnetworks.com

http://www.friskit.com