LBS Innovations LLC v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc

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.

LBS Innovations, LLC, an affiliate of monetization firm Empire IP LLC, has filed a new case in the largest of Empire IP’s over 40 litigation campaigns. The new complaint accuses Best Buy, Car Toys, and Fry’s Electronics (2:17-cv-00792) of infringing a single patent through the sale of GPS navigation devices made by either JVC Kenwood or Pioneer Electronics, neither of which is itself named as a defendant. The patent generally relates to providing location-based information, including “entertainment, commercial offers, and advertising” to mobile devices. LBS Innovations began this campaign in March 2011, with the number of defendants now topping 100.