NPE activity was above the norm for year-end.* Frequent filers included Ameranth, AML, Cedar Lane Technologies, Consolidated Transaction Processing, Linfo IP, Locket IP, Nimitz Technologies, R2 Solutions, Recog IP, and Sunflower Licensing.

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.

* Note I am catching up on a backlog because of some very busy IP litigation over the last year or so.

Adim8, LLC v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (W.D. Tex.).

Claims:           Infringement

Defendant:     Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Adim8, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Eureka Intellectual Property Law

Patents:          8,107,940 (System and method for providing advertising on a mobile device); 8,787,895 (System and method for providing advertising on a device)

Ameranth, Inc. v. DoorDash, Inc. (W.D. Pa.).

Judge:             District Judge W. Scott Hardy

Claims:           Infringement

Defendant:     DoorDash, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Ameranth, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Stamoulis & Weinblatt; Pribanic & Pribanic

Patent:            11,276,130 (Information management and synchronous communications system)

AML IP, LLC v. Stripe, Inc. (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.).

Judges:           District Judge Alan D. Albright; Magistrate Judge Derek T. Gilliland

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • Stripe, Inc.
  • Airbnb, Inc.
  • Block, Inc. f/k/a Square, Inc.
  • Buff Technologies, Ltd.

Plaintiff:         AML IP LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Ramey LLP

Patents:          6,876,979 (Electronic commerce bridge system); 7,177,838 (Method and apparatus for conducting electronic commerce transactions using electronic tokens)

Bright Capture LLC v. Shoeboxed, Inc. (W.D. Tex.).  

Claims:           Infringement

Defendant:     Shoeboxed, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Bright Capture LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Kent & Risley

Patents:          10,049,410 (Receipts scanner and financial organizer); 7,746,510 (Receipts scanner and financial organizer); 8,693,070 (Receipts scanner and financial organizer)

Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. v. Latecoere International, Inc. (W.D. Wash., W.D. Tex., D. Del.).

Judges:           District Judge Alan D. Albright; Magistrate Judge Derek T. Gilliland

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • Latecoere International, Inc.
  • VIA Technologies, Inc.
  • Zenitel Group
  • Snap One Holdings Corp.
  • Opticon, Inc. 
  • Digital Check Corp. d/b/a ST Imaging 
  • Lexmark International, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. 

Pls. Cnsl:        Mann Law Group; Rabicoff Law; Napoli Shkolnik

Patents:          6,972,790 (Host interface for imaging arrays); 8,537,242 (Host interface for imaging arrays); 6,473,527 (Module and method for interfacing analog/digital converting means and JPEG compression means)

Consolidated Transaction Processing LLC v. ARO Liquidation, Inc. f/k/a Aeropostale, Inc. (multiple cases) (N.D. Ill.).

Judges:           District Judge Edmond E. Chang; District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer; District Judge John F. Kness; Magistrate Judge Mary M. Rowland; District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr.; District Judge Charles P. Kocoras; District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly; District Judge John Robert Blakey; District Judge Andrea R. Wood

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • ARO Liquidation, Inc. f/k/a Aeropostale, Inc.
  • Tapestry, Inc. f/k/a Coach, Inc.
  • Urban Outfitters, Inc. 
  • The Container Store Group, Inc.
  • Shoe Carnival, Inc. 
  • Patagonia, Inc.
  • Saks Fifth Avenue, LLC d/b/a Saks Fifth Avenue
  • Sephora USA, Inc
  • Target Corporation
  • West Marine, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Consolidated Transaction Processing LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Devlin Law Firm

Patents:          8,396,743 (Sending targeted product offerings based on personal information); 8,712,846 (Sending targeted product offerings based on personal information)

Jobvite, Inc. v. Locket IP LLC (C.D. Cal.).

Claims:           Declaratory Judgment

Defendant:     Locket IP LLC

Plaintiff:         Jobvite, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Buchalter; Winstead

Patents:          10,514,832 (Method for locating regions of interest in a user interface); 9,990,112 (Method and apparatus for locating regions of interest in a user interface)

Linfo IP, LLC v. The Buckle, Inc. (E.D. Tex., S.D. Tex., W.D. Tex.).

Claims:           Infringement

Defendant:    

  • The Buckle, Inc.
  • Isotoner and Totes Isotoner Corporation
  • Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC 
  • Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
  • Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. d/b/a Hollister Co.  
  • Vuori, Inc. 
  • Sally Beauty Supply LLC 

Plaintiff:         Linfo IP, LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Ramey

Patent:            9,092,428 (System, methods and user interface for discovering and presenting information in text content)

Locket IP LLC v. Winsupply, Inc. (E.D. Tex.).

Judge:             District Judge Amos L. Mazzant, III

Claims:           Infringement

Defendant:     Winsupply, Inc.

Plaintiff:         Locket IP LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Banie & Ishimoto

Patents:          10,514,832 (Method for locating regions of interest in a user interface); 9,990,112 (Method and apparatus for locating regions of interest in a user interface)

Nimitz Technologies LLC v. CH Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.).

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • CH Robinson Worldwide, Inc. 
  • Clayton Homes, Inc. 

Plaintiff:         Nimitz Technologies LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        O’Kelly & O’Rourke; The Mort Law Firm

Patent:            7,848,328 (Broadcast content encapsulation)

R2 Solutions LLC v. Hilton Domestic Operating Company Inc. (N.D. Tex.).

Judge:             District Judge Karen Gren Scholer

Claims:           Infringement

Defendant:     Hilton Domestic Operating Company Inc.

Plaintiff:         R2 Solutions LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Nelson Bumgardner Conroy

Patents:          10,176,272 (System and method of automatically sizing and adapting a widget to available space); 7,698,329 (Method for improving quality of search results by avoiding indexing sections of pages); 8,190,610 (MapReduce for distributed database processing); 8,209,317 (Method and apparatus for reconstructing a search query); 8,341,157 (System and method for intent-driven search result presentation); 9,805,097 (Method and system for providing a search result)

Recog IP LLC v. Adidas America, Inc. (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.).

Judge:             District Judge Alan D. Albright

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • Adidas America, Inc. 
  • The Gap, Inc.  

Plaintiff:         Recog IP LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Direction IP Law

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

Sunflower Licensing LLC v. Avnet, Inc. (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.).

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • Avnet, Inc.
  • RBC Capital Markets, LLC 

Plaintiff:         Sunflower Licensing LLC

Pls. Cnsl:        Kent & Risley

Patents:          6,487,528 (Method and apparatus for encoding or decoding audio or video frame data); 7,398,005 (Trick mode playback of recorded video)

Tiare Technology, Inc. v. Albertsons Companies, Inc. (multiple cases) (E.D. Tex.).    

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

Claims:           Infringement

Defendants:   

  • Albertsons Companies, Inc. 
  • Albertsons LLC  
  • Applebee’s Restaurants LLC 
  • Dine Brands Global, Inc.  
  • Dunkin’ Donuts LLC d/b/a Dunkin’ Donuts 
  • Dine Brands Global, Inc.
  • The Kroger Co. 
  • Sonic Industries Services Inc.
  • The Wendy’s Company

Plaintiff:         Tiare Technology, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl:        Davis Firm 

Patents:          10,157,414 (Patron service system and method); 11,195,224 (Patron service system and method); 8,682,729 (Patron service system and method)