The holiday season brought a flurry of patent litigation activity targeting retailers, with particular focus on e-commerce platforms, payment systems, and retail technology. Frequent filers included Alpha Modus, Near Field Electronics, VDPP LLC, and Cedar Lane Technologies, along with continued activity from various NPEs targeting retail operations and technology implementations.

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.

Alpha Modus, Corp. v. H&M Fashion USA, Inc. (E.D. Tex.).

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

Claims: Infringement

Defendant: H&M Fashion USA, Inc.

Plaintiff: Alpha Modus, Corp.

Pls. Cnsl: Prince Lobel Tye

Patents: 11,042,890 (Method and system for customer assistance in a retail store); 11,049,120 (Method and system for generating a layout for placement of products in a retail store); 11,301,880 (Method and system for inventory management in a retail store); 12,026,731 (Method for personalized marketing and advertising of retail products); 12,354,121 (Methods and systems for shopping in a retail store)

BelAir Electronics, Inc. v. Amazon.com Services LLC (multiple cases) (W.D. Tex.).

Claims: Infringement

Defendants:

  • Amazon.com Services LLC
  • AT&T Inc.
  • AT&T Services, Inc.
  • Walmart Inc.

Plaintiff: BelAir Electronics, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl: Haller Law

Patents: 10,097,676 (Protective mask of mobile phone); 7,194,291 (Protective mask of mobile phone); 7,941,195 (Protective mask of mobile phone)

Cardtek International, Ltd. v. Target Corporation (E.D. Tex.).

Claims: Infringement

Defendant: Target Corporation d/b/a Target

Plaintiff: Cardtek International, Ltd. a/k/a Cardtek International, Inc.

Pls. Cnsl: The Heartfield Law Firm; Cadwell Clonts Reeder & Thomas; Hicks Johnson

Patents: 10,628,818 (Payment convergence system and method); 7,039,593 (Payment convergence system and method); 8,600,770 (Payment convergence system and method)

Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. v. Prosperum Securities, LLC (N.D. Ill., E.D. Tex.).

Judges: District Judge Andrea R. Wood; District Judge Joan B. Gottschall; District Judge Rodney Gilstrap; Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne

Claims: Infringement

Defendants:

  • Prosperum Securities, LLC
  • Uhlmann Price Securities, LLC
  • Bank of America Corporation
  • HSBC Holdings plc

Plaintiff: Cedar Lane Technologies Inc.

Pls. Cnsl: Rabicoff Law

Patent: 8,577,782 (Trading with conditional offers for semi-anonymous participants)

Kids2, LLC v. Carter’s Inc. et al (E.D. Tex.).

Claims: Infringement

Defendants:

  • Carter’s, Inc.
  • Carter’s Retail, Inc.
  • Skip Hop, Inc.
  • The William Carter Company

Plaintiff: Kids2, LLC

Pls. Cnsl: Foley & Lardner; MT2 Law Group – Mann Tindel Thompson

Patent: 7,740,560 (Stationary child exercise apparatus with bouncing pad)

Near Field Electronics LLC v. Albertsons Companies, Inc. (multiple cases) (E.D. Tex.).

Judge: District Judge Robert W. Schroeder, III

Claims: Infringement

Defendants:

  • Albertsons Companies, Inc.
  • Aritzia Inc.
  • Aritzia LP
  • Catalyst Brands LLC d/b/a JCPenney
  • Genesco, Inc.
  • J. Crew Group, LLC
  • Leslies Poolmart, Inc. d/b/a Leslies Pro
  • Oxford Industries, Inc.

Plaintiff: Near Field Electronics LLC

Pls. Cnsl: Shea Beaty

Patents: 6,691,201 (Dual mode usb-ps/2 device); 6,742,071 (Real-time i/o processor used to implement bus interface protocols); 6,959,350 (Configurable USB interface with virtual register architecture); 6,996,727 (Power supply for universal serial bus interface with programmable bus pullup resistor); 7,373,531 (Signal detection method, frequency detection method, power consumption control method, signal detecting device, frequency detecting device, power consumption control device and electronic apparatus)

Secure Matrix LLC v. Dress Barn Omni, Inc. (D. Del.).

Claims: Infringement

Defendant: Dress Barn Omni, Inc.

Plaintiff: Secure Matrix LLC

Pls. Cnsl: Rabicoff Law; Silverman McDonald & Friedman

Patent: 8,677,116 (Systems and methods for authentication and verification)

The Only Card, LLC v. The Citizens Bank of Georgia (N.D. Ga.).

Judge: District Judge Richard W. Story

Claims: Infringement

Defendant: The Citizens Bank of Georgia

Plaintiff: The Only Card, LLC

Pls. Cnsl: Law Offices of John W. Carpenter; Austin & Sparks

Patent: 8,152,059 (Secure commercial transactions system)

VDPP, LLC v. Burger King Company LLC (S.D. Tex., E.D. Tex., W.D. Tex.).

Claims: Infringement

Defendants:

  • Burger King Company LLC
  • Inter IKEA Systems BV
  • Costco Wholesale Corporation
  • McDonald’s Corporation
  • Walgreen Co. d/b/a Walgreens
  • Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc.
  • Southwest Airlines Co.

Plaintiff: VDPP, LLC

Pls. Cnsl: Bill Ramey

Patents: 7,030,902 (Eternalism, a method for creating an appearance of sustained three-dimensional motion-direction of unlimited duration, using a finite number of pictures); 9,948,922 (Faster state transitioning for continuous adjustable 3deeps filter spectacles using multi-layered variable tint materials)