This is the first edition of a new Blog feature: a periodic report on recently filed retail patent litigations. I am going to start out preparing it monthly, but depending upon the number of cases I may move to a quarterly post. I will focus on cases brought against retailers, or one or two links in the chain upstream. For now, I will leave out cases accusing a retail product because that would expand the report to almost every case.

I prepared the report in partnership with and using Docket Navigator and its powerful database. Docket Navigator is a powerful resource, and the place to go if you want to keep track of new patent litigation filings or want to know what is happening in particular cases, how your judge has historically handled a particular type of motion, or a particular plaintiff’s litigation history.

Finally, please let me know if you have thoughts about the report and changes you would like to see. I am preparing it as a service for retailers who may want an overview of the patent litigation landscape. So, I am very open to ways to improve the report.

ArrivalStar S.A. & Melvino Technologies

  • Defendants (4):Kuehne + Nagel, Inc.; Nicole Miller Palm Beach, Inc.; Seven For All Mankind, LLC; and William Rast Retail, LLC*
  • Court: S.D. Florida, Judge Ungaro (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent Nos.: 6,486,801; 6,714,859; 6,748,320; 6,904,359; 6,952,645; 7,030,781; and 7,400,970
  • Accusations: ArrivalStar is accusing systems that electronically update users about, among other things, the location and delivery of packages.  This is one of more than a dozen cases filed by ArrivalStar this year, although they generally have not targeted retailers or their supply chain directly.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel: McMahon Law Firm
  • Notes: ArrivalStar and Melvino Technologies filed other cases in June in Florida and Chicago, but they were not retail-specific, although they asserted the same patents.

CodePro Innovations, LLC

  • Defendants (4): Blockbuster; Kohl’s Illinois; Redbox; and The JC Penney Co.
  • Court: N.D. Texas, Judge Solis (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent Nos.: 5,717,866 and 5,924,078
  • Accusations: CodePro is accusing unspecified systems that use customer-entered copon codes at point-of-sale to provide and track customer discounts.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel: Dietz & Jarrard

Innovatio IP Ventures, LLC

  • Defendants (1): B&B Corporate Holdings, Inc.
  • Court: M.D. Florida, Judge Whittemore (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent Nos.: 5,546,397; 5,740,366; 5,844,893; 5,940,771; 6,374,311; 6,665,536; 6,697,415; 6,714,559; 7,013,138; 7,386,002; 7,457,646; 7,535,921; 7,536,167; 7,548,553; 7,710,907; 7,873,343; and 7,916,747
  • Accusations: Innovatio is accusing B&B, as well as entities across the country, of infringing it family of 31 patents, which Innovatio claims read upon the 802.11x wireless interent standard – essentially any wireless internet connection that is created in a business environment, whether for internal business use or offered to customers. There are already several cases filed in Chicago, and a case brought by manufacturers Cisco and Motorola in the D. Delaware.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel:Niro, Haller & Niro

Landmark Technology, LLC

  • Defendants (10): Body Central Corp; Buckle, Inc., The; Carter’s, Inc.; Casual Male Retail Group, Inc.; Christopher & Banks, Inc.; GNC Holdings, Inc.; Stage Stores Inc.; Stein Mart, Inc.; Tween Brands, Inc.; and Vitamin Shoppe Inc.
  • Court: E.D. Texas, Judge Davis (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent No.: 5,576,951; 6,289,319; and 7,010,508
  • Accusations: Landmark accuses retail websites of infringement based generally upon a relational database to display products for purchased coupled with a shopping cart functionality.  Landmark Technology has several other cases and has engaged in an extensive licensing campaign in addition to the filed suits.

Lodsys, LLC

  • E.D. Texas Defendants (9):adidas America, Inc.; BBY Solutions, Inc.; Best Western International, Inc.; CVS Caremark Corp.; Sam’s West, Inc.; Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.; The Container Store, Inc.; and The Teaching Company, LLC
  • N.D. Illinois D.J. Plaintiff: The New York Times Co.
  • Court: E.D. Texas, Judge Ungaro (Complaint) & N.D. Illinois, Judge Norgle (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent Nos.: 5,999,908 and 7,222,078
  • Accusations: Lodsys is generally accusing smartphone apps that either allow a user to make purchases from the apps, or that cross-promote other apps.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel:Kelley Donion Gill, and the Davis Firm (E.D. Texas) and Rothwell Figg (N.D. Ill.)

Secure Axcess, LLC

  • Defendants (12):American Bank of Texas; CitiGroup, Inc.; Citizens State Bank; Continental Airlines, Inc.; Dell, Inc.; Evite, LLC; Fundsxpress Financial Network, Inc.; Hotels.Com LP; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Match.Com LLC; SunTrust Banks Inc.; and The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack
  • Court: E.D. Texas, no judge has been assigned yet (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent No.: 6,601,169
  • Accusations: Secure Axcess is accusing unspecified cookie-based interent data security systems.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel:Antonelli, Harrington & Thompson

Select Retrieval LLC

  • N.D. Texas Defendants (10): Blinds, Inc.; Calendars.com, LLC; GameStop Corporation; RadioShack Corp.; Richlund Ventures Inc; Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.; Team Express Distributing, Inc.; The Container Store, Inc.; The JC Penney Co., Inc.; and Zale Corporation
  • N.D. Illinois Defendants (14): ABT Electronics, Inc.; ACE Hardware Corporation; Action Village, LLC; Calumet Photographic, Inc.; Chelsea & Scott Ltd.; Euromarket Designs, Inc. d/b/a Crate & Barrel; Fansedge, Inc.; OfficeMax, Inc.; OpticsPlanet Inc; Sears Holding Corp.; Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc; Walgreen Co.; Whitney Automotive Group Inc; and WW Grainger Inc.
  • Court: N.D. Texas, Judge Fitzwater (Complaint) & N.D. Illinois, Judge Kocoras (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent Nos.: 5,953,724 and 5,128,617
  • Accusations: Select Retrieval is accusing websites that use a hierarchical database to display products for purchase.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel: Dietz & Jarrard (N.D. Texas) and Greer Burns & Crain (N.D. Illinois)

Variant, Inc.

  • Defendants (19):ESA P Portfolio LLC d/b/a Extended Stay Hotels; Extended Stay America, Inc. d/b/a Extended Stay Hotels; Givens-Records Development, Ltd d/b/a Hotel Zafza Dallas; HVM, LLC d/b/a Extended Stay Hotels; Nextag, Inc.; Price Watch Corp.; Rosewood Hotel Investments, Inc.; Rosewood Hotels And Resorts, LLC; Rosewood Property Company d/b/a Roswood Mansion On Turtle Creek; RRCC, LP d/b/a Rosewood Crescent Hotel; Streetprices.com, Inc. d/b/a Streetprices.com Corp. d/b/a Streetprices.com; Tanglewood Resort Properties, Inc. d/b/a Tanglewood Resort; The Carlyle, LLC d/b/a The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel; Transformation 5701, LP d/b/a Hotel Zaza Houston; Travelnet Solutions, Inc.; Yelp!, Inc.; Z Resorts, Inc. d/b/a Hotel Zaza; Z Resorts LLC d/b/a Hotel Zaza; and Z Resorts Management, LLC d/b/a Hotel Zaza.
  • Court: E.D. Texas, no judge has been assigned yet (Complaint)
  • U.S. Patent No.: 7,624,044
  • Accusations: Variant is accusing websites in which a remote (user) computer communicates with a central computer system to provide the user iwtih information about goods or services for purchase.  Because the complaint does not accuse specific systems, the allegations are fairly broad and amorphous.
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel:Collins Edmonds & Pogorzelski and Spangler Law