Symbology Innovations, LLC v. Brother International Corporation

Throughout the last few years, prolific inventor and patent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild has consistently remained one of the top filers of NPE litigation. 2019 was no different. Last year saw over 160 defendants added to campaigns launched by plaintiffs associated with Rothschild, the campaigns spanning a wide range of technologies and now involving suits filed (and typically litigated in file-and-settle fashion) in myriad districts. A quick glance at the plaintiff’s early 2020 filings suggest that this year will see more of the same.

In March 2018, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw petitions for inter partes review (IPR) filed in a variety of notable campaigns, including those waged by publicly traded Quarterhill Inc.; privately held XR Communications, LLC; and inventor Leigh M. Rothschild. The Board also instituted trial throughout March in campaigns brought by Oyster Optics, LLC and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited. In addition, the PTAB granted in March a motion to amend in two IPRs against prolific plaintiff Realtime Data, LLC, also issuing final decisions involving patents asserted by Uniloc; Papst Licensing GmbH & Company Kg; Evolved Wireless LLC; Game and Technology Co., Ltd; and TQ Delta LLC.

December 2017 saw five defendants exit and five defendants added to the largest litigation campaign of prolific inventor and frequent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild, who ended last year as runner up among top NPEs for the second time in a row. Symbology Innovations, LLC filed new suits against BankFinancial (1:17-cv-09036), Bounce Energy (2:17-cv-00784), CITGO Petroleum (2:17-cv-00785), Eaton (2:17-cv-00786), and Stewart Information Services (2:17-cv-00787). The complaints assert multiple patents generally related to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server; more than 100 defendants have been accused of infringement through the use of QR (“Quick Response”) codes, in the first of two Rothschild-affiliated campaigns to target such codes.

Since February 2015, Leigh M. Rothschild has been conducting, through Symbology Innovations, LLC, a QR (“Quick Response”) code campaign. The earlier complaints in that campaign assert four patents in a family generally relate to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server. In June 2016, February 2017, and August 2017 respectively, three additional family members issued, one of which has now been asserted in a new round of cases in the campaign, this time by new plaintiff, RFID Technology Innovations, LLC, which Rothschild also controls. The new defendants are Floor & Décor Holdings (2:17-cv-00638), Hallmark Cards (2:17-cv-00639), Grocers Supply Company (Fiesta Mart) (2:17-cv-00637), Sherwin-Williams (2:17-cv-00640), and Ulta Beauty (2:17-cv-00641), and the new complaints continue to target the provision of products with QR codes readable by consumers armed with smartphones.

Symbology Innovations, LLC’s latest suits, filed against Best Buy, Brother Industries, NextEra Energy, PGA Tour, and Sysco (Freshpoint), bring the total number of defendants in the NPE’s QR (quick response) codes campaign to 57. As in all of Symbology’s previous cases, this week’s complaints assert three patents (8,936,190; 8,651,369; 8,424,752) from a family of five generally related to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server. The NPE accuses the defendants of infringing the patents-in-suit through QR codes in advertising media, including Internet advertisements. These new filings follow a spate of recent dismissals in Symbology’s campaign, some apparently due to settlements.