SmartDrive Announces Patent Office Reexamination of DriveCam Patents

SAN DIEGO--January 1, 2012: SmartDrive Systems, a leader in fleet safety and operational efficiency, announced that the United States Patent Office has granted reexamination of two patents asserted against it by DriveCam in a pending lawsuit.

In granting SmartDrive's reexamination requests, the Patent Office issued an Office action rejecting all claims of DriveCam's U.S. Patent No. 7,804,426 as unpatentable over multiple prior art references. The Patent Office also rejected as unpatentable all claims for which reexamination was sought in DriveCam's U.S. Patent No. 6,389,340. The claims rejected by the Patent Office include all of the claims in these patents asserted against SmartDrive. SmartDrive's request to reexamine DriveCam's U.S. Patent No. 7,659,826 also is pending before the Patent Office.

"SmartDrive has made significant innovations to the fleet management market with its industry leading SmartRecorder and SAAS solutions that improve driving safety, fuel consumption and operational efficiency. We're gratified that the US Patent Office has rejected the claims in these two patents that DriveCam had asserted against SmartDrive as unpatentable. These results are consistent with our view that patents should not be granted on features that were not innovative, but instead were well known in the industry at the time DriveCam filed its patent applications," said SmartDrive President Jason Palmer.

About SmartDrive Systems

SmartDrive delivers innovative solutions that make it easy to improve driver safety and reduce operating cost. SmartDrive records comprehensive video-based data from the road, then thoroughly reviews and scores critical events and recommends action for fleet managers to quickly respond and deliver sustainable savings - all through an easy-to-use managed service. The company has compiled the world's largest storehouse - more than 34 million events - of real-time, risky-driving incidents. SmartDrive Systems is based in San Diego, CA, and employs over 375 people worldwide. For more information, please visit Smart Drive.