Flectere LLC v. Office Depot, Inc.

The last of the cases in its first round having been dismissed in December, Flectere LLC has reloaded, suing four more retailers in the Eastern District of Texas. In May, the NPE, apparently controlled by a former IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal) principal, has asserted up to three patents, generally related to the use of online forms to gather information, against Academy, Office Depot, Sears, and Staples; the new cases accuse Costco (2:19-cv-00017), FedEx (2:19-cv-00018), Target (2:19-cv-00019), and UPS (2:19-cv-00020) of infringement through the operation of their e-commerce platforms.

Flectere LLC, an affiliate of patent monetization firm IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal), has kicked off a new campaign. Last week, the NPE sued retailers Academy (2:18-cv-00227), Office Depot (2:18-cv-00230), Sears (2:18-cv-00228), and Staples (2:18-cv-00229) over former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) patents, of disparate origins, that it has acquired from IQ Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Atlanta-based monetization firm IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group). The patents are generally related to the use of online forms to gather information, with the defendants accused of infringement through the operation of their ecommerce platforms.