Script Security Solutions, L.L.C. v. Lifeshield Security LLC et al

In a case before District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, an NPE has filed an opposition to several motions to dismiss arguing that a domestic corporation might be deemed to reside outside of its state of incorporation despite this past May’s TC Heartland decision. In TC Heartland, the US Supreme Court held that 1988 revisions to the general venue statute did not change (as the Federal Circuit had ruled) the previously understood residence of a domestic corporation for venue purposes: such a defendant “resides” only in the state in which it was incorporated. District courts have been grappling with the implications of this return to the earlier understanding of venue in patent cases in the weeks since TC Heartland was handed down. Script Security Solutions LLC, an affiliate of patent monetization firm Empire IP LLC, has now urged Judge Gilstrap to treat venue in Texas, a large state with multiple judicial districts, under a different portion of the general venue statute than was considered in TC Heartland, a decision involving a case brought in the small, single-district state of Delaware.

Script Security Solutions LLC has filed seven new cases in its home security campaign, the Empire IP LLC affiliate’s third wave of litigation and its first new suits since June 2015. The NPE’s latest complaints target Bot Home Automation (2:16-cv-01401), Canary Connect (2:16-cv-01402), Guardian Protection Services (2:16-cv-01404), Logitech (2:16-cv-01400), Netgear (2:16-cv-01403), Protect America (2:16-cv-01405), and Vector Security (2:16-cv-01406). Each defendant is alleged to infringe two patents (6,542,078, 6,828,909) generally related to a portable alarm system with motion sensors that can wirelessly communicate alarm conditions, along with sensor identification information (e.g. the door or window to which the sensor is attached), to a remote host. Guardian Protection Services and Vector Security are further accused of infringing a third patent (7,113,091) with similar subject matter. At issue in these latest cases are home security systems allegedly offering the claimed features.

A new Empire IP subsidiary, Script Security Solutions L.L.C., filed 11 suits in its first round of litigation. Defendants in the suit are ADT, AT&T, CenturyLink, Comcast, DEI Holdings, FrontPoint, Lifeshield Security, Monitronics, Protection One Alarm Monitoring, SimpliSafe, and Vivint. The suits assert two patents related to a motion detection system with an alarm (6,542,078, 6,828,909). Home security systems made and sold by defendants are accused of infringement. The patents-in-suit were developed by Henry and Michael Script for Guardit Technologies LLC, a failed operating company founded by Michael Script. Empire IP acquired the patents in December 2014. 3/13, Eastern District of Texas, 2:15cv00368, 2:15cv00369, 2:15cv00370, 2:15cv00371, 2:15cv00372, 2:15cv00373, 2:15cv00374, 2:15cv00375, 2:15cv00376, 2:15cv00377, 2:15cv00378