April 5, 2012 - Judge John D. Love (TXED) granted plaintiff Tendler Cellular’s [NPE] motion for leave to file an amended complaint to add allegations that defendant Mercedes infringes the newly issued 8,060,117 patent.  Tendler Cellular initially filed suit on April 14, 2011 against MetroPCS, MetroPCS Wireless, Mercedes, and Ford, alleging infringement of the 7,477,508 patent.  In granting the request, the judge noted that, “the claim construction hearing is scheduled [about 13 months away] and trial does not begin [for another 20 months], there is ample time to adequately respond to allegations of infringement based on the [recently issued] patent.”  Tendler had also asserted the 7,844,282 patent against MetroPCS, but since the original filing all defendants except for Mercedes have been dismissed.  The patents-in-suit relate to location-based information and payment systems, and Tendler alleges that Mercedes mbrace and mbrace PLUS services are some of the products infringing their intellectual property.  Previously, Tendler filed suits against ATX, BMW, GM, and Toyota, asserting the 7,050,818 patent that is also related to location-based services.  4/3, Eastern District of Texas, Judge Leonard Davis, 6:2011cv00178