Plano Encryption Technologies, LLC (PET) has continued the expansion of its sole litigation campaign beyond mobile banking to more general consumer apps with new cases against Groupon (2:16-cv-01093), JCPenney (2:16-cv-01073), IAC (Match.com) (2:16-cv-01094), and State Farm (2:16-cv-01072). These complaints assert the same two patents (5,991,399; 5,974,550) consistently at issue since the onset of this campaign in June 2015. A July 2016 claim construction order characterizes the ‘399 patent as generally related to “digital content protection in computer systems”, and the ‘550 patent as generally related to a “remote security protocol in computer systems in which two processes are operating”.

PET launched this campaign against a set of banks and providers of online and mobile banking platforms, last month expanding its scope to accuse of infringement more general mobile apps with cases against Best Buy, Etsy, and Shutterfly. PET was formed in Texas in March 2015 as a subsidiary of corporate parent Koba Holdings, LLC (formed in Delaware). USPTO records suggest that it owns at least six patents, four of which (including the ‘399 and ‘550 patents) originally issued to Intel. PET’s CEO and corporate counsel is Bradley D. Liddle, the entity’s only employee and officer. More information about this campaign, as well as Liddle’s connections to other NPEs, can be found here. RPX has also published a Litigation Campaign Assessment covering Plano Encryption. 10/3 (JCPenney, State Farm), 10/4 (Groupon, Match.com), Eastern District of Texas.