Landmark Technology A LLC v. Stoneway Electric Supply Co DC

Western District of Washington Judge Ricardo S. Martinez has denied a motion to dismiss filed by Landmark Technology A, LLC (“Landmark A”) in a case filed early last year under the State of Washington’s Patent Troll Protection Act (PTPA) (2:21-cv-00728). Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson seeks to enforce the PTPA, a law prohibiting bad faith assertions of patent infringement, against Landmark A’s widespread campaign. Landmark A, which is represented in the litigation by its sole member Raymond Mercado, moved to dismiss the suit on constitutional grounds, arguing that notice letters, even if they contain demands, are protected speech under the First Amendment. The court disagreed.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed a lawsuit against Landmark Technology A, LLC (“Landmark·A”), asserting that the NPE, which began filing litigation in early 2019, is in violation of his state’s Patent Troll Protection Act (PTPA)—a bill prohibiting bad faith assertions of patent infringement. According to the complaint—reportedly the first to seek enforcement of the act—Landmark·A has sent more than 1,800 demand letters in recent years to myriad companies, demanding $65K to license, under the threat of litigation, a patent “related to loan processing and credit reporting”. With infringement allegations primarily targeting customer log-in pages on company websites, argues Ferguson’s complaint, “any business with a web presence is a potential target” for Landmark·A. Over 130 unique defendants have been sued over the same patent by an apparently unrelated NPE from 2008 to 2018, so this is a familiar story—one that warrants the attention of current and future Landmark·A targets.