Caselas, LLC v. University Federal Credit Union

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.