Sued firm: OPower using suit to
'improperly maintain' dominance
December 5, 2011
Efficiency 2.0, sued by OPower in federal court last month, denied all allegations it infringed on OPower's copyrighted home energy-use reports, claiming in a recent court filing that OPower brought the suit to “unfairly interfere” with Efficiency 2.0's business and to “improperly maintain its dominant position in the market.”
OPower asked a Massachusetts federal court to immediate stop Efficiency 2.0, of New York City, from allegedly infringing on its reports (SGT, Dec-01).
“We believe strongly that the OPower complaint is meritless and intend to defend our position vigorously,” Efficiency 2.0 CEO Thomas Scaramellino told us Friday.
Efficiency 2.0 “takes an entirely different approach” from OPower's to influencing consumers' energy-saving behavior, that firm's filing said. It compares a consumer's energy use against past use, while OPower compares against neighbors' use.
One of the forms Efficiency 2.0 uses “was specifically designed to be similar to the OPower report design, which is the current industry standard,” the firm acknowledged. But the report was used for an academic project and is therefore “fair use” under copyright law, Efficiency 2.0 said.
OPower has repeatedly and falsely told current and prospective customers of Efficiency 2.0 that the latter firm “will be unable to offer its services in the future,” Efficiency 2.0 alleged. So OPower is liable for intentional interference with business relations and violation of Massachusetts law, Efficiency 2.0 asserted.
© 2011 MMI, Inc.
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