CryptoPeak Solutions, LLC v. Pinterest, Inc.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw the number of petitions for AIA review in November hold fairly steady at 111 (compared to October’s 128) as the US Supreme Court continued its review of the constitutionality of inter partes review (IPR) in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy Services, for which oral arguments were held on November 27. Among the NPEs targeted by petitions brought in November were publicly traded Quarterhill Inc. and Xperi Corporation, prolific litigant Brian Yates, and several privately held NPEs waging networking campaigns, including Alacritech, Inc.; Iridescent Networks, Inc.; Monument Patent Holdings, LLC; MyMail Ltd.; and Oyster Optics LLC. The PTAB also instituted trial in November for other IPRs against Alacritech and Quarterhill and for an IPR against Plectrum LLC. Final decisions issued by the Board in November include one in the automotive campaign waged by Paice LLC and in IPRs against InfoGation Corporation and VoIP-Pal.com, Inc., both of which saw their patents survive review.

A recently formed Delaware entity, CryptoPeak Security, LLC (CP Security), has begun litigating the patent (6,202,150) that Texas NPE CryptoPeak Solutions, LLC (CP Solutions) asserted against over 60 defendants in the Eastern District of Texas between July 2015 and this past April. The ‘150 patent is generally related to generating private keys in public-private keypair encryption, with infringement allegations focusing on the security systems used on the websites of new defendants 1-800 Contacts, Abercrombie & Fitch, Advance Auto Parts, Cabelas, First Citizens Bancshares, GameStop, Jack Henry & Associates, MGM Resorts, Papa John’s, Teladoc, Tractor Supply, and Wal-Mart (Jet.com), with each identified as a Delaware corporation. This move from Texas to Delaware appears to be part of a larger strategy by California attorney Brian Yates to transition ground zero for his litigation activities, perhaps more in light of a notable Texas sanctions ruling against him earlier this year than in response to the US Supreme Court’s TC Heartland decision.

CryptoPeak Solutions, LLC has filed 15 additional lawsuits this week, bringing the total number of defendants in its only litigation campaign to 65. The complaints all assert a single patent (6,202,150) that broadly relates to generating private keys in public-private keypair encryption. In July 2015, CryptoPeak sued a diverse set of 28 companies for infringement of the ‘150 patent, including Allstate, Charles Schwab, Petco, and 3M). The NPE filed another wave of suits in early November, against multiple retailers (e.g. Costco, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Office Depot, and Target), among others, and the most recent set of defendants includes hotel chains (Best Western, Choice Hotels, Hyatt, Intercontinental, Marriott, Starwood, Wyndham) and e-commerce platforms (Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline), as well as still others (Ally, AT&T, HSN, Liberty Interactive, Pinterest, Progressive Casualty Insurance, Yahoo). CryptoPeak’s infringement allegations focus on the security systems associated with each of the defendants’ websites.