April 12, 2019
Apple (2:12-cv-00759) has joined over 100 other companies as a defendant in the largest of the over 45 litigation campaigns filed by affiliates of monetization firm Empire IP LLC. LBS Innovations, LLC has asserted a single patent—generally related to providing location-based information, including “entertainment, commercial offers, and advertising” to mobile devices—since March 2011, with the most recent dismissal, in a case brought against Best Buy, Car Toys, and Fry’s Electronics, entered in December 2018. LBS Innovations targets Apple Maps, as allegedly provided in smartphones (from the iPhone 4 on), tablets (certain iPads and iPod Touches), computers (certain iMacs and MacBooks), smartwatches (from Apple Watch Series 0), and in-dash navigational devices (CarPlay since June 2014), all allegedly through June 12, 2017, the date of expiration of the patent-in-suit.
June 28, 2012
ING Bank filed an action for declaratory judgment against LBS Innovations [NPE], seeking declaration that its website does not infringe a patent related to providing location-based offers to mobile devices. ING Bank had previously filed this same action for declaratory judgment in Delaware on June 6, but voluntarily dismissed that case and re-filed in New Jersey. LBS has filed four prior suits since March 2011 against over 30 defendants including 7-Eleven, Barnes & Noble, BP, Chick-fil-a, Choice Hotels, Citgo Petroleum, CompUSA, Conn’s, ConocoPhillips, Costco, Dave & Buster’s, GameStop, Hyatt, Keycorp, Marriott, McDonald’s, Merrill Lynch, and Sally Beauty Supply. Microsoft previously filed an action for declaratory judgment against LBS in February 2012. Dennis Hollenberg is the named inventor on the patent-in-suit, which was assigned to LBS in November 2010. LBS Innovations is one of 14 portfolios controlled by Empire IP, a patent monetization entity managed by Daniel Mitry and Timothy Salmon. Other notable Empire IP licensing programs include Cuozzo Speed Technologies, PanoMap, PotterVoice, Rotatable Technologies, and Secor View Technologies. 6/21, District of New Jersey, assigned to Judge Claire C. Cecchi and referred to Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson, 2:2012cv03809.