IT firms bury the hatchet

By ADAM GIFFORD

Bermudan-owned sports graphics company Virtual Spectator and Craig
Meek's iVistra have dropped High Court actions against each other
over technology ownership.

Virtual Spectator operations manager Stephan Rothlander said both
parties had withdrawn their claims and filed a notice of
discontinuance, ending the year-long row.

"The negotiations have been protracted as the nature of the dispute
was complicated. But our new owners recognised everybody's best
interests lay in commercial resolution rather than litigation," he
said.

The row was kicked off last year when former Virtual Spectator
co-owner Neville Jordan alleged that staff had found a confidential
iVistra document in a rubbish bin in Virtual Spectator's foyer.

Virtual Spectator shares a floor in a Newmarket office building with
design firm Frontend, which had been hired to add graphics to a
document being used in iVistra's pitch to supply television and
internet graphics for the 2007 America's Cup.

Meek, a Virtual Spectator founder, quit the firm in March last year
over concerns at its direction under Jordan's ownership.

iVistra took Virtual Spectator to court, demanding it return any
copies of the document which outlined the new firm's "visionary
strategies" and "ideas of technology development".

When the case came before the High Court at Auckland, Virtual
Spectator's lawyers said the document showed iVistra was presenting
intellectual property that belonged to Virtual Spectator

In the end neither party won the America's Cup work.

Jordan quit the company in April, selling his 60 per cent stake to
co-owner Investors Guaranty, a Bermuda investment company.

Meek said Jordan's departure "enabled us to reach a quick and
positive settlement. It also opens the door for us to investigate
opportunities where we could work together."

He said iVistra was concentrating on data visualisation for
business, using its EVS (Enterprise Visibility System) application.

Virtual Spectator continues to build television and internet
graphics for sports events.