Communication Interface Technologies, LLC (CIT), a subsidiary of Equitable IP Corporation, keeps suing. The latest defendants are Adidas (4:23-cv-00720), Collinson Group (Priority Pass) (4:23-cv-00727), F21 OpCo (d/b/a Forever 21) (jointly owned by Authentic Brands, Simon Property, and Brookfield Property) (4:23-cv-00723), Hibbett Retail (City Gear) (4:23-cv-00722), Hyatt Hotels (4:23-cv-00724), Marriott International (4:23-cv-00725), OnePlus (4:23-cv-00726), Regis (Supercuts) (4:23-cv-00729), and Sport Clips (4:23-cv-00728), tagged over the provision of their various mobile apps. At issue are features for delivering push notifications from servers to mobile devices, these defendants joining those sued this past May—American Automobile Association (d/b/a AAA), AT&T, H&R Block, Honeywell, and Keller Williams Realty—in the Eastern District of Texas.

As recently reported by RPX in its Q4 in Review, NPE litigation targeting the Financial Services sector rose in 2021, with double the number of defendants added to litigation compared to 2020. The plaintiffs active in this sector today include several inventor-controlled NPEs, a publicly traded patent assertion entity, two Texas-based monetization firms, and multiple prolific litigants.

Communication Interface Technologies, LLC (CIT), a subsidiary of Equitable IP Corporation, has fired off another round of suits in its sole litigation campaign, begun last April, suing Applebee’s, Bloomin’ Brands (Outback Steakhouse), Choice Hotels, Jinjiang (Radisson Hospitality), Little Caesars, PNC, Red Lobster, Regions Financial, Texas Roadhouse, and UBS, each in the Western District of Texas. The patents-in-suit are generally related to maintaining a remote connection with a server through a mobile device, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of mobile apps that deliver push notifications from servers to mobile devices.

For the second time this year, Aido Mobility LLC, an NPE associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has handed off a chunk of its patent portfolio to an entity apparently associated with Equitable IP Corporation. The recipient, Push Data LLC, has just launched a campaign over the received assets, suing a slew of restaurants, hotel chains, and retailers in the Eastern District of Texas: Burger King (4:20-cv-00776), Chipotle (4:20-cv-00777), Dunkin Donuts (4:20-cv-00778), Hilton Worldwide (4:20-cv-00779), Inter-Continental Hotels (4:20-cv-00785), Jack in the Box (4:20-cv-00780), Panera Bread (4:20-cv-00781), Papa Johns (4:20-cv-00782), REI (4:20-cv-00783), and Wendys (4:20-cv-00784).

Communication Interface Technologies LLC (CIT), a subsidiary of Equitable IP Corporation, has added four more lawsuits to its litigation campaign, begun this past April, over three patents generally related to maintaining a remote connection with a server through a mobile device. The new defendants are Farmers Group (4:20-cv-00526), JPMorgan Chase (4:20-cv-00527), TD Ameritrade (4:20-cv-00528), and UPS (4:20-cv-00529), each accused of infringement through the provision of apps that deliver push notifications from servers to mobile devices. CIT pleads that “there are more than 184 licensees to” each of the asserted patents, a list that already appears to include some of the defendants from the NPE’s first round.

Equitable IP Corporation has initiated its third new campaign of 2020, with subsidiary Communication Interface Technologies LLC suing American Messaging Services (4:20-cv-00308), Capital One (4:20-cv-00307), Cinemark (4:20-cv-00306), FedEx (4:20-cv-00305), PepsiCo (4:20-cv-00286), Rent-A-Center (4:20-cv-00287), TI (4:20-cv-00288), and Yum! Brands (4:20-cv-00289), all in the Eastern District of Texas. Three patents generally related to maintaining a remote connection with a server through a mobile device are asserted in each complaint, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of mobile apps that deliver push notifications from servers to mobile devices. The new Communication Interface campaign is not the first to assert these patents in litigation.