April patent filings showed the typical recessionary increase, as the NPEs crank up activity in a rough economy. Frequent filers included Cedar Lane, Coding Technologies, Communication Interface Technologies, Electronic Receipts Delivery Systems, Location Based Services, and Symbology.

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 your suggestions for improving the report.

Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. v. Clarifai, Inc. (S.D.N.Y., W.D. Tex., N.D. Cal.).

Judge:            District Judge Robert Pitman, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:    

  • Clarifai, Inc.
  • Corel, Inc.
  • Eyeris Entertainment

Plaintiff:        Cedar Lane Technologies Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Rabicoff Law; Budo Law

Patent:           6,904,168 (Workflow system for detection and classification of images suspected as pornographic); 6,700,999 (System, method, and apparatus for multiple face tracking); 6,972,774 (Image processing system for inserting plurality of images into composite area, and medium); 7,292,261 (Virtual reality camera); 7,733,368 (Virtual reality camera); 8,031,223 (Virtual reality camera); RE44087 (Presenting panoramic images with geometric transformation)

Coding Technologies, LLC v. Zuca, Inc. (N.D. Cal., N.D. Tex., D. Neb.)

Judge:            District Judge Sam A. Lindsay; Magistrate Judge Michael D. Nelson

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:    

  • ZUCA, Inc.
  • Samsonite Corporation
  • Hyvee, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Coding Technologies, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        SML Avvocati; Kizzia Johnson; Goosmann Law Firm

Patent:  8,540,159 (Method for providing mobile service using code-pattern)

Communication Interface Technologies, LLC v. PepsiCo, Inc. (multiple cases) (E.D. Tex.).        

Judge:            District Judge Sean D. Jordan

Claims:          Infringement

Defendants:

  • PepsiCo, Inc.
  • Rent-A-Center, Inc.
  • Texas Instruments Incorporated
  • Yum! Brands, Inc.
  • FedEx Corporation
  • Cinemark Holdings, Inc.
  • Cinemark USA, Inc.
  • Capital One Financial Corporation
  • American Messaging Services, LLC

Plaintiff:        Communication Interface Technologies, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Devlin Law Firm

Patent:           6,574,239 (Virtual connection of a remote unit to a server); 8,266,296 (Application-layer evaluation of communications received by a mobile device); 8,291,010 (Virtual connection of a remote unit to a server)

Corrino Holdings LLC v. Expedia Group, Inc. (W.D. Tex.).

Judge:            District Judge Alan D. Albright

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:     Expedia Group, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Corrino Holdings LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        DiMuro Ginsberg

Patent:           6,741,188 (System for dynamically pushing information to a user utilizing global positioning system); 7,716,149 (Method, device, and program product for a social dashboard associated with a persistent virtual environment); 7,843,332 (System for dynamically pushing information to a user utilizing global positioning system); 7,847,685 (System for dynamically pushing information to a user utilizing global positioning system); 7,958,104 (Context based data searching); 9,152,734 (Systems and methods for identifying intersections using content metadata); 9,262,533 (Context based data searching)

Electronic Receipts Delivery Systems, LLC v. Carter’s, Inc. . (multiple cases) (N.D. Ohio, D. Del.).

Judge:            District Judge Sara Lioi; District Judge Benita Y. Pearson

Claims:          Infringement

Defendants:

  • Carter’s, Inc.
  • JC Penney Corporation, Inc.
  • Menard, Inc.
  • The Children’s Place, Inc.
  • American Airlines Group Inc.

Plaintiff:        Electronic Receipts Delivery Systems, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Sand Sebolt & Wernow; Chong Law Firm

Patent:           8,820,635 (Processing a transaction by a terminal)

Estech Systems, Inc. v. PlainsCapital Bank (multiple cases) (E.D. Tex.).

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:

  • PlainsCapital Bank
  • Target Corporation
  • Regus International

Plaintiff:         Estech Systems, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Williams Simons & Landis

Patent:           7,068,684 (Quality of service in a voice over IP telephone system); 7,123,699 (Voice mail in a voice over IP telephone system); 8,391,298 (Phone directory in a voice over IP telephone system); 6,067,349 (Dialing using caller ID)

Honeyman Cipher Solutions LLC v. Adidas American Inc. (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.).

Judge:            District Judge Robert Pitman

Claims:          Infringement

Defendants:

  • Adidas American Inc.
  • Asics Digital Inc.
  • Evernote Corporation
  • PayPal, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Honeyman Cipher Solutions LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Rabicoff Law

Patent:  5,991,399 (Method for securely distributing a conditional use private key to a trusted entity on a remote system)

Human Differential Intelligence LLC v. Cigna Corporation (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.). 

Judge:            District Judge Alan D. Albright

Claims:          Infringement

Defendants:

  • Cigna Corporation
  • The Gap, Inc.
  • Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
  • CVS Health Corporation

Plaintiff:        Human Differential Intelligence LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        DiNovo Price

Patent:           8,752,141 (Methods for presenting and determining the efficacy of progressive pictorial and motion-based CAPTCHAs); 9,192,861 (Motion, orientation, and touch-based CAPTCHAs)

Location Based Services, LLC v. Booking.com (USA) Inc. (N.D. Fla., S.D. Fla., D. Del., N.D. Cal.).

Judge:            District Judge Allen C. Winsor, Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick, District Judge Darrin P. Gayles

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:    

  • com (USA) Inc.
  • Deere & Company
  • HUGO BOSS Fashions, Inc.
  • Phillips 66 Company
  • com US, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Location Based Services, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Sand Sebolt & Wernow; Chong Law Firm; SML Avvocati

Patent:           9,702,713 (Map-based guide system and method)

S3G Technology LLC v. Chick-Fil-A, Inc. (E.D. Tex.).

Judge:            District Judge Rodney Gilstrap

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:     Chick-Fil-A, Inc.

Plaintiff:        S3G Technology LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Parker Bunt & Ainsworth

Patent:           10,261,774 (Modification of terminal and service provider machines using an update server machine); 9,081,897 (Modification of terminal and service provider machines using an update server machine) 9,940,124 (Modification of terminal and service provider machines using an update server machine)

Stragent, LLC v. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC (multiple cases) (D. Del.).

Claims:          Infringement

Defendants:

  • BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC
  • BMW of North America, LLC
  • Daimler North American Corporation
  • Daimler Trucks North America LLC
  • Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
  • Mercedes-Benz Vans, LLC

Plaintiff:        Stragent, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        O’Kelly & Ernst; Meagher Emanuel Laks Goldberg & Liao

Patent:           10,002,036 (System, method and computer program product for sharing information in a distributed framework); 10,031,790 (System, method and computer program product for sharing information in a distributed framework); 10,248,477 (System, method and computer program product for sharing information in a distributed framework); 9,705,765 (System, method and computer program product for sharing information in a distributed framework)

Symbology Innovations, LLC v. Celebrity Cruises Inc. (multiple cases) (S.D. Fla., C.D. Cal., N.D. Cal., D. Del., N.D. Ohio).  

Judge:            District Judge Rodney Smith; District Judge Dan Aaron Polster; District Judge Benita Y. Pearson

Claims:          Infringement

Defendants:

  • Celebrity Cruises Inc.
  • NCL Corporation Ltd.
  • Fabletics, LLC
  • Houdini Inc. d/b/a Wine Country Gift Baskets
  • 23andMe, Inc.
  • ThreeSixty Brands Group LLC d/b/a Sharper Image
  • IPIC Theatres, LLC
  • L’Occitane, Inc.
  • Under Armour, Inc.

Plaintiff:        Symbology Innovations LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Sand Sebolt & Wernow; Karish & Bjorgum; Chong Law Firm

Patent:           8,424,752 (System and method for presenting information about an object on a portable electronic device)

Syte-Visual Conception Ltd. v. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (D.N.J.).

Claims:          Infringement

Defendant:     Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.

Plaintiff:        Syte-Visual Conception Ltd.

Pls. Cnsl:        Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz

Patent:           9,412,182 (System and process for automatically finding objects of a specific color)