eUniverse today issued a statement in response to yesterday's release by Tumbleweed Communications Corp. announcing that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against eUniverse. "eUniverse was
contacted for the first time last week by counsel for Tumbleweed suggesting that eUniverse's newly launched electronic greeting card offerings required a license under certain of Tumbleweed's
patents," said Christopher Lipp, VP and General Counsel of eUniverse. "Before we could fully determine the merits of the claims and have an initial telephonic discussion to understand their
technology, Tumbleweed decided to publicize the filing of a lawsuit concerning this matter. We are aware however that the issuance and enforcement of Tumbleweed's subject patents have been the source
of some controversy. This may explain their issuance of a press release yesterday in the hope of coercing eUniverse into quickly agreeing to a licensing arrangement. Such tactic having failed, we have
referred the case to outside counsel and will respond appropriately in due course. Our greeting card offerings comprise just one of several product and content offerings provided to the eUniverse
audience."
