CHICAGO -- Amadeus failed to convince the U.S. District Court of
Delaware that Orbitz and ITA Software were guilty of breach of
contract, as the court issued a summary judgement in favor of
Orbitz and ITA.
Amadeus had filed a complaint against Orbitz in October 2002,
claiming that Orbitz's use of ITA's low-fare search engine violated
a software-development and licensing agreement signed by Amadeus
and ITA in 1998.
A provision stated that no party could license or sublicense
ITA's product to a GDS or a GDS affiliate. Amadeus argued that
Orbitz was an affiliate of Worldspan [Orbitz's GDS vendor] because
Delta, Northwest and American had ownership interests in both
companies. [The three airlines have since sold their Worldspan
shares.]
Amadeus had filed a second complaint in February 2003 against ITA,
a company in which Amadeus holds a 20% interest, claiming breach of
contract and civil conspiracy.
The court ruled last week that Orbitz wasn't a Worldspan
affiliate because the three airlines that owned Worldspan didn't
have complete control of both companies, as Orbitz has five airline
owners.
The court also ruled that ITA didn't breach its contract with
Amadeus by striking a licensing deal with Orbitz since Orbitz isn't
a GDS affiliate.
To contact reporter Jerry Limone, send e-mail to [email protected].