Sapphire Crossing LLC v. Groupon, Inc.

For several years running, IP Edge LLC has been responsible for the most defendants added to NPE litigation campaigns throughout each calendar year. 2019 was no different. Last year saw roughly 400 defendants added to campaigns launched by plaintiffs associated with the Texas monetization firm, 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 NPE’s January filings suggests that 2020 will see more of the same, while a recent Alice ruling may have just ended one of IP Edge’s 2019 campaigns.

As Sapphire Crossing LLC adds to its litigation campaign a case against SAP (Concur) (1:19-cv-01442) in the Northern District of Illinois and two other cases, one each against Kellogg (1:19-cv-00415) and WageWorks (1:19-cv-00416) in the District of Delaware, existing defendants in the latter forum have established a pattern. HealthEquity, Intuit, Quotient, WEX Health, Visa, and Xero have all answered Sapphire Crossing’s complaint but have also filed concurrent motions to dismiss, which challenge the few claims of the patent-in-suit left standing after an earlier inter partes review (IPR) under Alice. The motions are nearly identical, identifying the putative abstract idea to which the image transfer patent is patent-ineligibly directed as “data recognition and transfer”. If recent past is precedent, those suits will likely reach a resolution before the court addresses any of the motions filed.

Roughly one month after filing cases against Groupon, Ibotta, and Quotient, Sapphire Crossing LLC, an affiliate of IP Edge LLC, has also added Intuit (1:18-cv-01856) to its file-and-dismiss campaign over a single image transfer patent. Infringement allegations in the NPE’s earlier complaints focused on mobile banking apps providing mobile check deposit features for financial institutions. In this latest round of suits, Sapphire Crossing focuses on mobile app features that allow the capture and upload of store receipt images, here within the QuickBooks Accounting mobile app.

Sapphire Crossing LLC, an affiliate of IP Edge LLC, has filed another wave of lawsuits in its file-and-dismiss campaign over a single image transfer patent. The latest defendants are Ibotta (1:18-cv-01716) and Quotient (1:18-cv-01717) in the District of Delaware and Groupon (1:18-cv-07277) in the Northern District of Illinois. Most earlier defendants were financial institutions, tagged over the provision of mobile banking apps offering mobile check deposit features; here, Sapphire Crossing focuses on mobile app features that allow the capture and upload of store receipt images.

While Anuwave LLC pivots away from mobile banking, the campaign focus of its fellow IP Edge LLC affiliate has stayed squarely on it. New Texas entity Sapphire Crossing LLC has taken over the litigation campaign of Ruby Sands LLC, suing Citizens Financial Group (1:18-cv-00513) and Great Western Bancorp (1:18-cv-00514) in the District of Delaware and Investors Bancorp (2:18-cv-05527), Lakeland Bancorp (2:18-cv-05528), and Valley National Bancorp (2:18-cv-05529) in the District of New Jersey. The sole patent-in-suit generally relates to image transfer, with IP Edge, through both affiliates, accusing the defendants throughout the campaign of infringement through the provision of mobile banking apps offering mobile check deposit features.

Prolific patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC shows no signs of slowing down in the New Year, with affiliated NPEs filing another round of cases in the first week of January. Ruby Sands LLC has added new lawsuits to its troubled mobile banking campaign, while Packet Tread LLC and Cypaleo LLC have continued to expand their respective communications campaigns. These latest cases follow a surge of filings by other IP Edge affiliates in the final months of 2016.

IP Edge LLC affiliate MagnaCross LLC has filed a fresh round of lawsuits, capping off a wave of year-end litigation by other NPEs also controlled by the prolific monetization firm. The latest MagnaCross complaints target Avaya (2:16-cv-01461), Comtrend (2:16-cv-01462), EnGenius (2:16-cv-01463), Huawei (2:16-cv-01464), Juniper Networks (2:16-cv-01465), Siemens (2:16-cv-01466), and Sierra Wireless (2:16-cv-01467), accusing the companies of infringing a single patent (6,917,304) generally related to wireless data transmission through the provision of wireless access points or routers.

Ruby Sands LLC has filed five new cases in the litigation campaign that it began roughly one year ago. The NPE, an affiliate of patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC, has accused Amarillo National Bank (2:16-cv-01304), Cadence Bank (2:16-cv-01305), Falcon International Bank (2:16-cv-01306), First Financial Bank (2:16-cv-01307), and First National Bank Southwest (2:16-cv-01308) of infringing the sole patent-in-campaign (6,891,633), which generally relates to image transfer. The accused products throughout the campaign have been mobile banking apps. The new complaints attempt to avoid pleading inadequacies that proved fatal to some of Ruby Sands’s earlier cases, in part by focusing direct infringement allegations on the defendants’ testing and employee use of mobile devices implementing the accused software and in part by cutting and pasting with greater care.