Fall Line Patents, LLC

Its last plate of suits—targeting the mobile apps of the likes of Arby’s, Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, Little Caesar, Panera, Popeye’s, Subway, and Whataburger, among others—near fully digested, Fall Line Patents, LLC has filed new, separate complaints against A Sub Above (Jersey Mikes) (5:24-cv-00094), CKE Holdings (Carls Jr.) (5:24-cv-00090), Dine Brands Global (Applebees, IHOP) (5:24-cv-00097), Domino’s Pizza (5:24-cv-00091), El Pollo Loco (5:24-cv-00092), Jack In The Box (5:24-cv-00093), Krispy Kreme (5:24-cv-00095), Raising Canes Restaurants (5:24-cv-00096), and Wingstop (5:24-cv-00089), each in the Eastern District of Texas. At least one past defendant has challenged venue, citing recent related case law concerning franchisers and franchisees, but its motion did not make it past settlement to a ruling.

Fall Line Patents, LLC has unleashed another barrage of complaints, shortly after the dust settled on its last one, filed in 2018 and persisting through August 2023. The new defendants are ARG Holding (Arby’s) (5:23-cv-00110), Ilitch Holdings (Little Caesar) (5:23-cv-00115), Chipotle (5:23-cv-00113), Mavericks (d/b/a Inspire Brands) (Dunkin Brands, Sonic Franchising) (5:23-cv-00114, 5:23-cv-00118), Panera (5:23-cv-00116), Popeye’s (5:23-cv-00117), Restaurants Brand (Burger King) (5:23-cv-00111), Roark Capital (Subway) (5:23-cv-00119), The Property Group (Chick-Fil-A) (5:23-cv-00112), The Wendy’s Company (Wendy’s International) (5:23-cv-00120), and Whatabrands (Whataburger) (5:23-cv-00121). Each is targeted over the provision of its mobile app in Eastern District of Texas complaints that focus on one claim of a single data management patent, which claim has survived multiple, storied inter partes reviews (IPRs).

This past April, Fall Line Patents, LLC, an NPE formed in Oklahoma in January, initiated its first litigation campaign, suing American Airlines, Cinemark Holdings, and GrubHub in the Eastern District of Texas. A couple of weeks after dismissal (with prejudice) in the GrubHub case, the NPE has added two more defendants in the same district, asserting the same patent (9,454,748) against Choice Hotels (6:17-cv-00407) and Uber (6:17-cv-00408). The ‘748 patent generally relates to managing user-provided data based on the user’s location, and mobile apps that transmit location-specific information are the accused products. Fall Line alleges proper venue over each defendant (formed in Delaware) based on the presence of several Choice Hotel properties in the district and based on Uber’s “providing its ride-sharing service in this district” and purportedly maintaining “a regular and established place of business” in Plano.

Fall Line Patents, LLC, an NPE formed in Oklahoma this past January, has filed its first litigation, accusing American Airlines (6:17-cv-00204), Cinemark Holdings (6:17-cv-00204), and GrubHub (6:17-cv-00204) of infringing a single patent (9,454,748) generally related to managing user-provided data based on the user’s location. Mobile apps that transmit location-specific information are the focus of the NPE’s complaints. The ‘748 patent has not been asserted previously in litigation, but its earlier (and currently, its only) family member (7,822,816) has, in a somewhat storied campaign lasting from March 2011 to May 2014.