ETC Dismisses Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Elation The patent infringement lawsuit brought against Elation by Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. (ETC) has been dismissed with prejudice following a claim-construction ruling by the US District Court for the Central District of California. ETC filed the lawsuit in January 2025, alleging that Elation infringed three ETC patents relating to entertainment lighting technology. In its August 17 claim-construction ruling, the Court held that the asserted claims of one of ETC's patents, US Patent No. 8,593,074, were invalid for indefiniteness. The Court also adopted a construction of a key claim limitation in the two remaining patents, U. Patent Nos. 11,240,898 and 11,849,519, that undermined ETC's infringement theory. Following these rulings, ETC unilaterally issued an irrevocable covenant not to sue Elation for infringement of any of the three asserted patents without receiving any payment from Elation. ETC then moved to dismiss its infringement claims with prejudice voluntarily. On August 28, the Court granted ETC's request. "We are very pleased with the outcome," says Toby Velazquez, CEO of Elation. "We were confident in our position from the beginning and believed strongly in the merits of our defense. 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." A spokesperson for ETC declined to comment. 
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