October continued the summer / fall trend of relatively active NPEs into the fall.  Frequent filers included Anuwave, Bartonfalls, BillingNetwork Patents, eCeipt, Location Services and Rothschild.

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.

Electronic Communication Technologies, LLC v. Minted, LLC, (S.D. Fla.); (multiple cases).

Judge:             District Judge Kenneth A. Marra

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • Minted, LLC
  • ATMAN, Inc. d/b/a pcRUSH
  • Lakeshore Equipment Company d/b/a Lakeshore Learning
  • The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack d/b/a The Pep Boys
  • com, LLC
  • The Orvis Company Inc.

Plaintiff:        Electronic Communication Technologies, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Assouline & Berlow

Patents:          7,319,414 (Secure notification messaging systems and methods using authentication indicia); 7,876,239 (Secure notification messaging systems and methods using authentication indicia); and 9,373,261 (Secure notification messaging with user option to communicate with delivery or pickup representative).

Retrospection Marketing LLC v. Best Buy Co., Inc., (E.D. Tex.).

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • Best Buy Co., Inc.
  • Kohl’s Corporation
  • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Plaintiff          Retrospection Marketing LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        One LLP; and The Stafford Davis Firm

Patent:            7,296,062 (Method for generating a presentation for re-locating an information page that has already been called).

Plano Encryption Technologies, LLC v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, (E.D. Tex.) (multiple cases).     

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
  • JC Penney Company, Inc.
  • Groupon, Inc.
  • com, LLC

Plaintiff:        Plano Encryption Technologies, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Capshaw DeRieux; and The Pitcock Law Group

Patents:          5,974,550 (Method for strongly authenticating another process in a different address space); and 5,991,399 (Method for securely distributing a conditional use private key to a trusted entity on a remote system).

Verify Smart Corp. v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, (D.N.J.).

Claim:            Infringement

Defendant:     Wells Fargo Bank, NA

Plaintiff:        Verify Smart Corp.

Pls. Cnsl:        Zimmerman Weiser & Paray

Patent:            8,285,648 (System and method for verifying a user’s identity in electronic transactions).

BillingNetwork Patent, Inc. v. CosmoLex Cloud, LLC, (N.D. Ill.).

Judge:             District Judge Thomas M. Durkin

Claim:            Infringement

Defendant:     CosmoLex Cloud, LLC

Plaintiff:        BillingNetwork Patent, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Haller Law; and Noble IP

Patent:            6,374,229 (Integrated internet facilitated billing, data processing and communication system).

eCeipt LLC v. Ann Inc., (E.D. Tex.) (multiple cases).

Judges:           District Judge Rodney Gilstrap; Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • Ann Inc.
  • Best Buy Co., Inc.
  • Caleres, Inc. d/b/a Famous Footwear
  • Recreational Equipment, Inc.

Plaintiff:        eCeipt LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Stamoulis & Weinblatt; and The Stafford Davis Firm

Patent:            8,643,875 (Receipt handling systems, print drivers and methods thereof).

Millennium Commerce, LLC v. TGI Friday’s, Inc., (E.D. Tex.; D. Del.) (multiple cases).

Judge:             District Judge Rodney Gilstrap

Claims:           Infringement; Infringement – ANDA

Defendants:

  • TGI Friday’s, Inc.
  • Whole Foods Market, Inc.
  • Hospira, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Millennium Commerce, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Law Office of Ryan E. Hatch; Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell; and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr

Patents:          7,954,701 (Electronic fund transfer or transaction system); and 6,713,446 (Formulation of boronic acid compounds).

Bartonfalls LLC v. American Broadcasting Company, (E.D. Tex.).

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • American Broadcasting Company
  • com, Inc.
  • Bloomberg LP
  • CBS Interactive, Inc.
  • Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
  • Consumers Union of United States, Inc.
  • Discovery Communications, Inc.
  • Forbes Inc.
  • Advance Publications, Inc.
  • Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc.
  • NBCUniversal Media, LLC
  • Viacom, Inc.
  • The New York Times Company
  • Ziff-Davis LLC

Plaintiff:        Bartonfalls LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Zimmerman Weiser & Paray

Patent:            7,917,922 (Video input switching and signal processing apparatus).

Guada Technologies LLC v. 7Digital Inc., (E.D. Tex).

Judges:           Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne; District Judge Robert W. Schroeder, III

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • 7Digital Inc.
  • Batanga, Inc.
  • Defy Media, LLC
  • com Inc.
  • iHeartMedia, Inc.
  • MLB Advanced Media, LP
  • Netflix, Inc.
  • Pandora Media, Inc.
  • Reliance Majestic Holdings, LLC
  • Rhapsody International Inc.
  • Slacker, Inc.
  • Smule, Inc.
  • Spotify USA Inc.

Plaintiff:        Guada Technologies LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Direction IP Law

Patent:            7,231,379 (Navigation in a hierarchical structured transaction processing system).

Rothschild Patent Imaging LLC v. Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation (E.D. Tex.). (multiple cases).

Judge:             District Judge Robert W. Schroeder, III

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation
  • Badoo Trading Limited
  • Grindr LLC
  • MeetMe, Inc.
  • com, Inc.
  • Skout, Inc.
  • Foursquare Labs, Inc.
  • TangoMe, Inc.
  • Tumblr, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Rothschild Patent Imaging LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Kizzia Johnson

Patent:            8,437,797 (Wireless image distribution system and method).

Banertek LLC v. Care.com, Inc., (E.D. Tex.).

Judges:           District Judge Rodney Gilstrap; Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne

Claim:            Infringement

Defendant:     Care.com, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Banertek LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Zimmerman Weiser & Paray

Patent:            6,839,731 (System and method for providing data communication in a device network).

IntegraCore, LLC v. Shipping and Transit, LLC, (D. Utah).

Judge:             Senior District Judge Dale A. Kimball

Claim:            Declaratory Judgment

Defendant:     Shipping and Transit, LLC

Plaintiff:        IntegraCore, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Trask Britt

Patents:          6,415,207 (System and method for automatically providing vehicle status information); 6,763,299 (Notification systems and methods with notifications based upon prior stop locations); 6,904,359 (Notification systems and methods with user-definable notifications based upon occurance of events); and 7,400,970 (System and method for an advance notification system for monitoring and reporting proximity of a vehicle).

Location Services IP, LLC v. CFA Properties, Inc., (E.D. Tex.).

Judge:             District Judge Rodney Gilstrap

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • 7-Eleven, Inc.
  • CFA Properties, Inc.
  • CFA Servco, Inc.
  • Chick-fil-A, Inc.
  • Baskin-Robbins Franchising LLC d/b/a Baskin Robbins
  • Baskin Robbins LLC d/b/a Baskin’ Robbins
  • BR IP Holder LLC f/k/a Baskin-Robbins, Inc. d/b/a Baskin’ Robbins d/b/a Baskin’ Robbins Mobile
  • DD IP Holder, LLC d/b/a Dunkin’ Donuts
  • Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. d/b/a Dunkin’ Donuts d/b/a Baskin Robbins
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Franchising LLC d/b/a Dunkin’ Donuts
  • Dunkin’ Donuts LLC d/b/a Dunkin’ Donuts
  • GasBuddy, LLC f/k/a GasBuddy Organization, Inc.
  • GasBuddy OpenStore, LLC d/b/a GasBuddy Retail Solutions

Plaintiff:        Location Services IP, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Collins Edmonds Schlather & Tower

Patents:          6,202,023 (Internet based geographic location referencing system and method); 6,356,834 (Geographic location referencing system and method); and 8,935,220 (Unified geographic database and method of creating, maintaining and using the same).

Anuwave, LLC v. First Personal Financial Corp. d/b/a First Personal Bank, (N.D. Ill.) (multiple cases).

Judges:           District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly; District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo; District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr.; District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan; District Judge Virginia M. Kendall; District Judge Milton I. Shadur; District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • First Personal Financial Corp. d/b/a First Personal Bank
  • Huntington Bancshares Incorporated d/b/a FirstMerit Bank
  • Royal Financial, Inc. d/b/a Royal Savings Bank
  • First American Bank Corporation
  • BankFinancial FSB
  • Associated Banc-Corp
  • Community Savings Bank

Plaintiff:        Anuwave, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Andreou & Casson; and Ferraiuoli

Patent:            8,295,862 (Method and system to enable communication through SMS communication channel).

Coqui Technologies, LLC v. CashStar Inc., (E.D. Tex.).

Claim:            Infringement

Defendants:

  • CashStar Inc.
  • Gyft, Inc.
  • Transaction Wireless, Inc.
  • Givex USA Corporation

Plaintiff:        Coqui Technologies, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Ni Wang & Massand

Patent:            7,580,864 (Method for circulating an electronic gift certificate in online and offline system).

Uniloc USA, Inc. et al v. Nutanix, Inc., (E.D. Tex.).

Claim:            Infringement

Defendant:     Nutanix, Inc.

Plaintiffs:

  • Uniloc Luxembourg, SA
  • Uniloc USA, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Cesari and McKenna; and Tadlock Law Firm

Patents:          6,324,578 (Methods, systems and computer program products for management of configurable application programs on a network); 6,510,466 (Methods, systems and computer program products for centralized management of application programs on a network); 6,728,766 (Methods, systems and computer program products for license use management on a network); and 7,069,293 (Methods, systems and computer program products for distribution of application programs to a target station on a network).