Avante International Technology Corporation Files Suit Against Use of Paper Trail Printer, Op Scan Technology by Voting Machine Giants...
By John Gideon on 7/12/2006, 12:54pm PT  

In a just issued Media Release SimmonsCooperLLC has announced that their client, Avante International, has decided to sue Diebold, Elections Systems and Software (ES&S), and Sequoia Voting Systems for infringing on their patents for voter verified paper audit trail printer and some optical-scan patents.

The full Media Release follows...

Inventor of Electronic Voting Verification System Takes Industry Giants to Court for Patent Infringement

Wednesday July 12, 11:19 am ET

SimmonsCooper Files Lawsuit on Behalf of AVANTE International Technology Corporation

EAST ALTON, Ill., July 12 /PRNewswire/ --- SimmonsCooper LLC has filed a lawsuit against the three largest voting machine manufacturers for infringing AVANTE International Technology Corporation's Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and optical scan patents.

Named in the suit are Diebold Election Systems, Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S), and Sequoia Voting Systems. The suit was filed on behalf of Kevin Chung, CEO of Avante International Technology Corporation, Inc., who invented VVPAT.

AVANTE's VVPAT and optical scanning (which includes automatic ballot marking) patents allow voters to verify that their electronically-cast ballots are being accurately counted while also allowing for auditability between the paper record and the electronic record.

The AVANTE technology directly addresses widespread skepticism about the integrity of electronic voting, solving a problem that has threatened to undermine public faith in a process tainted in recent elections by allegations of computer manipulation.

"AVANTE isn't the only victim here," said Paul Lesko, the SimmonsCooper lawyer representing AVANTE. "Local governments, acting in good faith in determining which electronic voting system would serve the needs of their districts, also have every reason to be upset at these companies.

"We believe the evidence will show that these companies sold infringing equipment to public officials, and that they did so consciously, with knowledge of AVANTE's intellectual property," added Mr. Lesko.

SimmonsCooper is seeking damages and an injunction on behalf of AVANTE.

ABOUT SIMMONSCOOPER

SimmonsCooper LLC, based in East Alton, Illinois, with offices in Chicago, is the country's leading asbestos litigation firm, with strong practices also in securities litigation, toxic torts, business-to-business, and international product liability and torts. Visit us at www.simmonscooper.com.

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