Marathon Patent Group Reports Rulings for Inter Partes Reviews of CRFD Research '233 Patent

Marathon Patent Group, Inc.

("Marathon" or "Company"), a patent licensing and commercialization company, announced today that on June 1, 2016, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") of the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") issued rulings pertaining to IPR2015-00259, filed by petitioners Hulu, LLC ("Hulu"), Netflix, Inc. ("Netflix"), and Spotify USA Inc. ("Spotify"), and IPR2015-00627, filed by Dish Network Corporation ("Dish") against U.S. Patent No. 7,191,233 ("'233 Patent"). The '233 patent is assigned to CRFD Research Inc., ("CRFD"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marathon Patent Group. CRFD's patent infringement lawsuits in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against Dish, Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify (together, "Petitioners") had been stayed pending the resolution of the aforementioned Inter Partes Review ("IPR") filings. The Petitioners had challenged a total of 30 out of a possible 43 claims of the '233 patent. However, the PTAB only found 4 of the 30 claims to be unpatentable. After this result, and in light of the previous decision on the IPR filed by Iron Dome LLC (IPR2015-00055), ten of the 43 claims of the '233 patent have been held unpatentable by the PTAB. In other words, the PTAB has confirmed patentability of 20 out of the 30 claims of the '233 patent that have been challenged. "We are pleased with the USPTO's decisions finding that the vast majority of the patent's 43 claims are patentable," said Doug Croxall, Founder and CEO of Marathon Patent Group. "Importantly, with the IPR rulings now issued, we expect the court will soon calendar trial dates advancing these previously long stayed cases to trial. Rulings such as these continue to demonstrate the value of our proprietary process to assess, value, and acquire high quality patent assets that have the potential of generating meaningful return on investment for both the Company and its shareholders."