iControl Takes Alarm.com and FrontPoint Security To Court

Two of the connected home heavies have taken their competition to court.  It’s in the news that iControl has taken court action against Alarm.com for patent infringement.  iControl has file a lawsuit against Alarm.com and FrontPoint Security, an Alarm.com customer in a district court in Virginia. IControl is seeking damages and an injunction to stop the further sale of the infringing Alarm.com and FrontPoint Security products.

The lawsuit involves these US Patent Nos.:

• 7,911, 341 (“Method for Defining and Implementing Alarm/Notification by Exception)
• 7,262,690 (“Method and System for Monitoring Events)
• 8,073,931 (Networked Touchscreen with Integrated Interfaces)
• 8,335,842 (“Premises Management Networking”)
• 8,473,619 (“Security Network Integrated with Premise Security System”)
• 8,478,844 (“Forming a Security Network Including Integrated Security System Components and Network Devices”)

“The six patents asserted against Alarm.com are only part of the breakthrough technologies being designed and developed at iControl Networks.  Intellectual property is crucial to the type of technology innovation that defines our company, and so we will do all we can to protect our most valuable assets,” said Bob Hagerty, CEO of iControl Networks.

According to the court paper filed by iControl they were business partners with FrontPoint from 2007 and it was from then that FrontPoint was exposed to iControl’s systems, such as the use of Z-Wave communications protocol and GE Security-based systems with iControl.  iControl said they demonstrated the use of web-based and mobible clients in iControl system to control Z-Wave base devices such as thermostats, lighting, Wi-Fi cameras and other appliances.