ETC patent case against Elation dismissed

A US court has dismissed Electronic Theatre Controls’ (ETC) patent infringement lawsuit against Elation Professional with prejudice, following a claim-construction ruling that undermined ETC’s case.

ETC filed the lawsuit in January 2025, alleging that Elation had infringed three patents relating to entertainment lighting technology. The US District Court for the Central District of California issued its claim-construction ruling on 17 August 2026.

The court ruled that the asserted claims of one patent, US Patent No. 8,593,074, were invalid for indefiniteness. It also adopted a construction of a key claim limitation in the two remaining patents, US Patent Nos. 11,240,898 and 11,849,519, that undermined ETC’s infringement argument. In its subsequent request for dismissal, ETC acknowledged that the ruling had “substantially undermined its case.”

Following the ruling, ETC issued an irrevocable covenant not to sue Elation for infringement of any of the three patents, without receiving payment from Elation. ETC then requested voluntary dismissal of its infringement claims with prejudice. The court granted the request on 28 August 2026, bringing the claims to an end.

“We are very pleased with the outcome,” said Toby Velazquez, CEO of Elation. “We were confident in our position from the beginning and believed strongly in the merits of our defence. We also have tremendous respect for intellectual property rights and the important role they play in encouraging innovation throughout our industry. But innovation has never been the domain of any one company.”

Velazquez added that Elation would continue investing in research and development, engineering capabilities and customer relationships to advance entertainment lighting technology. “Healthy competition and different ideas make our industry stronger. Ultimately, customers decide which technologies and products create real value and we welcome that challenge every day,” he concluded.