Recent patent/copyright infringement cases filed in U.S. District Courts

Beneficial Innovations Inc. vs. AOL LLC et al Beneficial Innovations alleges it owns the inventions claimed in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,712,702 for Method and System for Playing Games on a Network and 6,183,366 for Network Gaming System. The suit names AOL, The Dallas Morning News, Google, IGN Enterprises, Morris Communications, Tribune Interactive, Yahoo! and YouTube as defendants in a patent infringement suit. The original complaint states that defendants have infringed the patents through Web sites including www.aol.com; www.google.com; www.yahoo.com; www.youtube.com and others. "Plaintiff has been damaged by defendants' infringement of the patent and will suffer additional irreparable damage and impairment of the value of its patent rights unless defendants are enjoined from continuing infringement," the complaint states. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages, treble damages, fees, costs, interest and other relief as justice requires. Charles Ainsworth of Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth PC in Tyler is representing the plaintiff. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward and referred to Magistrate Charles Everingham. Case No. 2:07-cv-555-TJW-CE Dec. 21 Paul Bennett et al vs. Alcoa Closure Sytems International et al Paul H. Bennett of California and Thom M. Perlmutter of Rhode Island allege they are co-inventors and co-owners of U.S. Patent No. RE39,867 for a Tamper-Evident Container Closure. The plaintiffs allege that Alcoa Closure Systems International, Bericap LLC, Blackhawk Molding Co., CG Roxane, Crystal Geyser Water, Erie County Plastics, International Plastics, Rexam Closure Systems and Seaquist Closures infringe the '867 Patent through manufacture, use and sales of tamper evident closures. Various push/pull, thumb pop and twist types of tamper-evident closures are named in the suit as infringing products. Plaintiffs are asking that defendants "account for and pay … all damages caused by the infringement of the '867 Patent, which by statute can be no less than a reasonable royalty." They are seeking enhanced damages from the defendants as a result of their willful infringement, interest, fees, costs and other just and proper relief. Edward W. Goldstein of Goldstein, Faucett & Prebeg LLP of Houston is representing the plaintiffs. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward. Case No. 2:07-cv-558-TJW Dec. 28 Parallel Networks LLC vs. Netflix Inc. et al Plaintiff Parallel Networks is a Texas limited liability company with its principal place of business in Dallas. It claims to have the rights to U.S. Patent Nos. 5,894,554 and 6,415,335 B1, which concern systems and methods for managing dynamic Web page generation requests. Parallel Networks alleges that Netflix, SkyMall, ATA Airlines, John Wiley & Sons, E*Trade Financial Corp. and The Finish Line make and/or use systems within the scope of one or more claims of the patents-in-suit. "Parallel Networks has suffered damage by reason of defendants' infringement and will continue to suffer additional damage until this court enjoins the infringing conduct," the original complaint states. Plaintiff alleges that the defendants' infringement is willful and deliberate, which entitles Parallel Networks to increased damages. The plaintiff also seeks an injunction, fees, costs and other just and proper relief. Larry D. Carlson of Baker Botts LLP in Dallas is lead attorney for the plaintiff. Attorneys from Ireland, Carroll & Kelley in Tyler; Brown McCarroll LLP in Longview; Jones & Jones of Marshall; and Ward & Smith Law Firm of Longview are also of counsel for the plaintiff. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis. Case No. 2:07-cv-562-LED PACT XPP vs. Xilinx Inc. and Avnet Inc. PACT is a German corporation and claims it is the owner of eight patents at issue; including U.S. Patent No. 6,088,795 for a Process for Automatic Dynamic Reloading of Data Flow Processors and Units with Two- or Three-Dimensional Programmable Cell Architectures. PACT was assigned the eight patents by co-inventors Martin Vorbach and Robert Munch. "Defendants have infringed and continue to infringe the patents by the Virtex and Spartan lines of FPGAs," the original complaint states. "Defendants' acts of infringement have caused damage to PACT, and PACT is entitled to recover from defendants the damages sustained by PACT as a result of defendants' wrongful acts in an amount subject to proof at trial." The plaintiff alleges that the infringement is willful and deliberate, entitling PACT to increased damages, attorney fees and costs. The plaintiff is also seeking interest and other relief the court may deem just and proper. Robert Christopher Bunt of Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth PC in Tyler is representing the plaintiff. Attorneys from Susman Godfrey LLP and Jones & Jones of Marshall are also representing the plaintiff. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward and referred to Magistrate Charles Everingham. Case No. 2:07-cv-563-TJW-CE Media Technologies Licensing LLC vs. Tristar Productions Inc. et al Plaintiff Media Technologies claims to own the inventions described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,803,501 and 6,142,532 for a Memorabilia Card. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Ex Parte Reexamination Certificates for the '501 and '532 Patents in November 2007. Media Technologies alleges that defendants Tristar Production, Press Pass Inc., Ace Authentic, Bench Warmer International, Stellar Collectibles, SA-GE Collectibles and Razor Entertainment Group have infringed on the patents. The plaintiff is seeking a decree permanently enjoining defendants, compensatory damages, enhanced damages, attorney fees, court costs, interest and other relief as justice requires. S. Calvin Capshaw of Brown McCarroll LLP in Longview with attorneys from Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth in Tyler and Dovel & Luner LLP of Santa Monica, Calif., are representing the plaintiff. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Warner. Case No. 2:07-cv-564-TJW Dec. 31 Mondis Technology Ltd. vs. LG Electronics Inc. et al Mondis Technologies is a corporation organized under the laws of England with its principal place of business in London. The original complaint refers to seven patents, including U.S. Patent No. 6,057,812, for computer monitors and image display units. Mondis Technologies names LG Electronics, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., FoxConn and Innolux Display Corp. as defendants in the patent infringement suit. "Mondis has been damaged by defendants' infringing activities," the complaint states. "Defendants will continue their infringing activities, and continue to damage Mondis, unless enjoined by this court. Mondis has no adequate remedy at law." Mondis is asking that the court enjoin defendants from further infringement of said patents, award damages sufficient to compensate it for the infringement, treble damages, interest, attorney fees, costs, expenses and other relief. Otis W. Carroll of Ireland, Carroll & Kelley PC in Tyler is representing the plaintiff with attorneys from Dechert LLP in Philadelphia, Pa., of counsel. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward and referred to Magistrate Charles Everingham. Case No. 2:07-cv-565-TJW-CE