RALEIGH – Pendo is the winner in a patent fight with WalkMe, a legal battle that involved two fast-growing high tech software firms in the Triangle.
A federal judge in New York on Tuesday dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit filed by WalkMe against Pendo last fall.
Pendo declared the decision as a “decisive victory.”
Pendo is based in Raleigh. WalkMe has a large regional operation in Raleigh and is based in San Francisco. Both are growing quickly, committed to hiring hundreds of new employees in the region.
“We’re pleased to move past what we see as a clear attempt to distract us as we continue to grow and thrive,” said Todd Olson, Pendo’s co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “Winning this lawsuit is an important moment, but only because it allows us to focus 100% on the more important work of innovating and serving customers. We see it as a win for innovation over litigation. We’d prefer to compete where it counts: in the market, not in the courts.”
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WalkMe alleged in the suit that Pendo’s use of “tooltips” and “lightboxes” which guide users inside a software application violated a patent.
The judge ruled the patent as invalid.
WalkMe sells what it says is the “world’s first Digital Adoption Platform,” software that assists users of digital assets such as enterprise software, mobile apps, or websites on how to complete tasks and use the assets effectively and provide an optimal user experience. The software uses artificial intelligence and automation to guide how people interact with digital technology, essentially walking them through it. Approximately 2,000 enterprises, including 30 percent of Fortune 500 companies, use the company’s product.
WalkMe’s $40M funding will accelerate growth in Raleigh operation
Pendo provides a variety of guidance and communication to assist product development teams and application owners. The company utilizes the cloud to help clients design and deliver products for customers with an emphasis on improving customer satisfaction. “With Pendo, these product teams can understand product usage, collect feedback, measure NPS, onboard users, and announce new features in app—all without requiring engineering resources,” the company says.
