Audacious Inquiry, Collective Medical Sue CRISP Over Notification Patent

PointClickCare subsidiaries Audacious Inquiry and Collective Medical Technologies have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP) and CRISP Shared Services (CSS), accusing them of misappropriating intellectual property and engaging in deceptive practices that violate Maryland’s unfair competition law.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the lawsuit claims CRISP and CSS willfully infringed patents covering Audacious Inquiry’s real-time event notification technology, which alerts care teams when a patient is admitted, transferred, or discharged. Audacious developed this technology—known as Encounter Notification Services (ENS)—with CRISP beginning in 2009 and bought full intellectual property rights in 2014. CRISP continued licensing ENS through 2024.

According to the complaint, CRISP notified Audacious in May 2024 that it would end its licensing agreement effective September, and shortly after launched a competing product, CRISP Event Notification Delivery (CEND), which PointClickCare alleges is a “copycat” that infringes on three ENS patents. PointClickCare claims CRISP misrepresented CEND’s capabilities and used misleading marketing to replace ENS while leveraging proprietary technology without authorization.

The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to stop CRISP and CSS from using or selling the infringing technology. A PointClickCare spokesperson said CRISP’s actions undermine fair competition and force PointClickCare to compete against its own innovations.

PointClickCare also accuses CSS of misleading the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration during a 2024 procurement process by obscuring the infringing nature of CEND and overstating its performance.

The case underscores PointClickCare’s broader stance on protecting innovation and intellectual property. Separately, the company is also defending itself against a lawsuit filed in January 2024 by Real Time Medical Systems, which alleged information blocking and unfair competition—claims PointClickCare has moved to dismiss as legally insufficient.