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LEGAL MATTERS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
LEGAL MATTERS

20. LEGAL MATTERS

The Company is involved in various legal proceedings that are incidental to the conduct of its business. Aside from the matters discussed below, the Company is not involved in any pending or threatened legal proceedings that it believes could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or results of operations.

In September 2013, Career Destination Development, LLC filed suit against the Company for allegedly infringing certain patents, U.S. Patent No. 7,424,438 (the “438 Patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 8,374,901 (the “901 Patent”), relating to methods for the online searching of jobs. The lawsuit, entitled Career Destination Development, LLC vs. Monster Worldwide, Inc. (Civil Action No. 13-cv-2423), was brought in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The Plaintiff sought injunctive relief, monetary damages, pre and post judgment interest, and other costs. On October 10, 2013, the Company filed an answer denying the allegations set forth in the complaint. On February 12, 2014, Monster filed two separate petitions in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for covered business method (“CBM”) review of the ‘901 Patent, and the USPTO subsequently assigned case numbers CBM2014-00069 and CBM2014-00070 to these petitions for CBM review of the ‘901 Patent. On February 12, 2014 and February 21, 2014, Monster also filed petitions in the USPTO for CBM review of the ‘438 Patent, and the USPTO subsequently assigned case numbers CBM2014-00068 and CBM2014-00077 to the petitions for review of the ‘438 Patent. On March 14, 2014, the District Court for the District of Kansas granted Monster’s motion to stay Civil Action No. 13-cv-2423 pending the aforementioned CBM reviews of the ‘438 and ‘901 Patents. On November 28, 2014, the parties entered into a settlement agreement whereby all claims would be dismissed with prejudice and the petitions filed with the USPTO would be withdrawn. By Order of the Court dated November 25, 2014, the action was dismissed with prejudice.

In April 2014, Selene Communication Technologies LLC filed suit against the Company for allegedly infringing a certain patent relating to methods for generating search queries. The lawsuit, entitled Selene Communication Technologies LLC vs. Monster Worldwide, Inc. (Civil Action No.14-cv-434) was brought in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The Plaintiff sought injunctive relief, monetary damages, pre and post judgment interest and other costs. On June 13, 2014, the Company filed an answer denying the allegations set forth in the complaint. On October 29, 2014, the parties entered into a settlement agreement whereby all claims would be voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. By Order of the Court dated November 17, 2014, the action was dismissed with prejudice.