September saw an uptick in troll filings, as you would expected as children get back to school and summer vacations end.  There were a number of the usual suspects — Activsion TV, Cronos, MacroSolve, Cascades Branding and Eclipse IP.

 As usual, I prepared the report in partnership with and using Docket Navigator and its powerful database.  Docket Navigator is a valuable 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 or changes you would like to see. I am preparing it as a service for retailers and their supply chain who may want an overview of the patent litigation landscape.  So, I am very open to ways to improve the report for you.

 Deckers Outdoor Corporation v. Rue Services Corporation et al, (C.D. Cal.).

Judges:           Magistrate Judge Victor B. Kenton, District Judge John F. Walter

Defendant:     Rue Services Corporation

Plaintiff:         Deckers Outdoor Corporation

Pls. Cnsl:        Blakely Law Group

Relay IP, Inc. v. Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., (D. Del.). 

Claim:             Infringement 

Defendant:     Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Relay IP, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Bayard; and Gardere Wynne Sewell

Patent:            5,331,637 (Multicast routing using core based trees).

Activision TV, Inc. v. MGM Resorts International, (E.D. Tex.) (multiple cases).

Claim:             Infringement 

Defendants:

  • MGM Resorts International
  • Cinemark USA, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Activision TV, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Stamoulis & Weinblatt; and Gillam & Smith

Patents:          7,369,058 (Remote control electronic display system); and 8,330,613 (Remote control electronic display system).

Cronos Technologies, LLC v. ACE Hardware Corporation, (D. Del.) (multiple cases).

Claim:             Infringement 

Defendants:

  • ACE Hardware Corporation
  • Canon USA, Inc.
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
  • Expedia, Inc.
  • Google, Inc.
  • New Moosejaw, LLC
  • Priceline.com, Incorporated
  • RadioShack Corporation
  • Shoebuy.com, Inc.
  • Travelocity.com LP

Plaintiff:         Cronos Technologies, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Bayard; and Russ August & Kabat

Patent:            5,664,110 (Remote ordering system).

Freeman v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., (N.D. Cal.) (multiple cases). 

Judge:             Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins; District Judge Edward M. Chen

Claim:             Infringement 

Defendants:

  • Delta Air Lines, Inc.
  • Starbucks Corporation

Plaintiff:         Albert John Freeman

Pls. Cnsl:        Law Offices of John W Carpenter

Patent:            5,661,284 (Commercial transaction system).

Eclipse IP LLC v. Southwest Airlines Co., (C.D. Cal.). (multiple cases).

Judges:           Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky

Defendants:

  • Southwest Airlines Co.
  • Delta Air Lines, Inc.
  • Air Canada
  • US Airways, Inc.
  • Virgin America, Inc.
  • United Airlines, Inc.
  • Groundlink Holdings II LLC
  • Groundlink Holdings LLC
  • Groundlink LLC

Plaintiff:         Eclipse IP LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Olavi Dunne

Patents:          7,119,716 (Response systems and methods for notification systems for modifying future notifications); 7,504,966 (Response systems and methods for notification systems for modifying future notifications); 7,479,899 (Notification systems and methods enabling a response to cause connection between a notified PCD and a delivery or pickup representative); 7,482,952 (Response systems and methods for notification systems for modifying future notifications); 7,064,681 (Response systems and methods for notification systems); 7,479,901(Mobile thing determination systems and methods based upon user-device location); and 7,538,691 (Mobile thing determination systems and methods based upon user-device location).

MacroSolve, Inc. v. Box, Inc., (E.D. Tex.) (multiple cases). 

Claim:             Infringement 

Defendants:

  • Box, Inc.
  • Carlson Hotels
  • Chipotle Mexican Grill
  • Comcast
  • Discover Bank
  • Discover Financial Services, Inc.
  • Dropbox, Inc.
  • Home Box Office, Inc.
  • MediaFire, LLC
  • Meetup, Inc.
  • Wyndham Hotel Group,
  • Five Guys

Plaintiff:         MacroSolve, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Antonelli Harrington & Thompson

Patent:            7,822,816 (System and method for data management).

c4cast.com, Inc. v. The New York Times (E.D. Tex.) (multiple cases).

Judge:             District Judge Rodney Gilstrap

Claim:             Infringement

Defendants:

  • The New York Times Company
  • CBS Interactive, Inc.
  • Time, Inc.
  • Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
  • Gametap, LLC

Plaintiff:         c4cast.com, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Ni Wang & Associates

Patent:            7,958,204 (Community-selected content).

Cascades Branding Innovation LLC v. Kohl’s Corporation, (N.D. Ill.) (multiple cases).

Judge:             District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo

Claim:             Infringement

Defendants:

  • Kohl’s Corporation
  • The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Cascades Branding Innovation LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Flachsbart & Greenspoon

Patents:          7,768,395 (Brand mapping); 8,106,766 (Brand mapping); and 8,405,504 (Brand mapping).

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. v. Lodsys Group, LLC, (E.D. Wis.).

Judge:             Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph

Claim:             Declaratory Judgment

Defendant:     Lodsys Group, LLC

Plaintiff:         Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck; Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek

Patents:          5,999,908 (Customer-based product design module); 7,133,834 (Product value information interchange server); 7,222,078 (Methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network); 7,620,565 (Customer-based product design module).

Data Carriers, LLC v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., (D. Del.) (multiple cases).

Claim:             Infringement

Defendants:

  • 1-800 Contacts, Inc.
  • Amerigroup Corporation

Plaintiff:         Data Carriers, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Bayard; and Gardere Wynne Sewell

Patent:            5,388,198 (Proactive presentation of automating features to a computer user).