Caselas, LLC v. University Federal Credit Union DC

So far in March, Caselas, LLC, one of several entities controlled by prolific inventor Raymond Anthony Joao, has sued Capital One, Comerica (Comerica Bank), Cullen/Frost Bankers (Frost Bank), Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, SVB Financial Group (Silicon Valley Bank), and Wells Fargo in the Western District of Texas and Barksdale Federal Credit Union, Eastex Credit Union, and Heartland Payment Systems in the Eastern District of Texas. The five patents-in-suit generally relate to processing information related to an individual’s financial history (including “charge-backs”) prior to a transaction and transmitting it to the merchant, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of financial products and services (e.g., payment cards and electronic payment processing services). At issue are features for authorizing and processing electronic transactions.

As recently reported in RPX’s Q1 in Review, NPE litigation targeting the Financial Services sector jumped by 111% during the first quarter of 2021. That Q1 wave of Financial Services litigation was filed by a variety of NPE plaintiffs, including several inventor-controlled entities; an NPE associated with the monetization firm Dynamic IP Deals, LLC (d/b/a DynaIP); and an affiliate of prolific filer IP Edge LLC.

In late January, Caselas, LLC, one of several entities controlled by prolific inventor Raymond Anthony Joao, filed separate Eastern District of Texas lawsuits against Austin Bancorp (Austin Bank) (2:21-cv-00016), BTH Bank (2:21-cv-00017), First Community Bancshares (2:21-cv-00030) Guaranty Bancshares (Guaranty Bank & Trust) (2:21-cv-00031), Telco Plus Credit Union (2:21-cv-00032), and Texana Bank (2:21-cv-00018). The plaintiff asserts in each complaint five patents, generally related to processing information related to an individual’s financial history (including “charge-backs”) prior to a transaction and transmitting it to the merchant, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of financial payment cards.

Broadway Bancshares (Broadway National Bank) (6:20-cv-01135), Credit Human Federal Credit Union (6:20-cv-01137), Electronic Merchant Systems (6:20-cv-01130), First Citizens Bancshares (First Citizens Bank and Trust) (6:20-cv-01132), Government Employees Credit Union (6:20-cv-01133), NCR (JetPay; NCR Payment Solutions) (6:20-cv-01138), TruWest (6:20-cv-01141), and University Federal Credit Union (6:20-cv-01134) have been sued in a new payment services campaign, launched by Caselas, LLC in the Western District of Texas. The Florida plaintiff asserts five patents, generally related to processing information related to an individual’s financial history (including “charge-backs”) prior to a transaction and transmitting it to the merchant, that name as their sole inventor a familiar figure in patent monetization over the past decade.