The number of defendants in the sole litigation campaign of Location Services IP, LLC (LSI) has approached 50, after the NPE filed four new complaints, one each against Chick-Fil-A (2:16-cv-01177), Dunkin’ Donuts (2:16-cv-01178), GasBuddy (2:16-cv-01179), and 7-Eleven (2:16-cv-01176). Three patents (6,202,023; 6,356,834; 8,935,220) generally related to location-based mapping services, with the accused products throughout the campaign having been location-aware mobile apps and websites with location-mapping features.

Location Services IP, LLC (LSI) filed its first suits of 2016, adding Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS) (2:16-cv-00194), UnitedHealth Group (2:16-cv-00195), and Doctor’s Associates (Subway) (2:16-cv-00193) to its campaign targeting location-aware mobile apps and websites with location-mapping features. LSI kicked off its sole litigation campaign in February 2015, and has since then sued nearly 30 companies over a group of related patents that generally concern location-based mapping services (5,839,088; 6,047,236; 6,202,023; 6,356,834; 8,935,220). This week’s filings accuse Subway’s website, and BCBS’s and UnitedHealth’s mobile apps, of infringing the ‘023, ‘834, and ‘220 patents.

In 2015, seven NPEs controlled by Monument Patent Holdings, LLC filed over 40 patent infringement suits against operating companies—a marked increase compared to just nine cases lodged by two Monument entities (DataTech IP, LLC and Optical Tech IP) in 2014. Monument Patent Holdings was incorporated in Texas in December 2013 and is managed by four Dominion Harbor Group, LLC executives: David Pridham, Dominion’s CEO, formerly of IPNav; Matthew DelGiorno, Dominion’s president, formerly of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP; Conner Mowles, Dominion’s CFO, formerly of IPNav; and Lee Bradlee Sheafe, Dominion’s Chief IP Officer.

Location Services IP, LLC (LSI) has added Comcast, Groupon, Priceline.com, McDonald’s, and Shopkick to a campaign targeting location-aware mobile apps and websites with location-mapping features (e.g. store locator services). Since launching this litigation campaign in February 2015, LSI has sued 24 companies over a group of related patents that generally concern location-based mapping services (5,839,088; 6,047,236; 6,202,023; 6,356,834; 8,935,220). Every case has involved at least three of the patents-in-campaign; some cases, e.g. those against AT&T, Foursquare, Microsoft, and Yahoo, have involved all five. Defendants include retailers, restaurants, banks, ride-share operators, wireless carriers, crowd-sourcing websites, and companies that offer mapping applications.

Location Services IP, LLC cases continue to trickle in slowly, with a single new suit against Nokia. The entity began filing litigation in February 2015 and has since filed ten suits, all of which assert four patents (5,839,088, 6,202,023, 6,356,834, 8,935,220). The patents relate to location based services and are part of a family of 13 patents owned by Location Services. The new complaint against Nokia accuses apps with built-in location tracking of infringing the patents-in-suit.

Location Services IP, LLC continues its campaign with suits against CVS, HEB Grocery, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, and Wells Fargo. The same four patents asserted in the entity’s original litigation are asserted in these suits (5,839,088, 6,202,023, 6,356,834, 8,935,220), as well as one additional patent (6,047,236). The patents-in-suit relate to location-based services and are part of a larger portfolio that Location Services acquired from WGRS Licensing in 2014. The patents originated with Go2 Systems, a failed operating company created by Lee Hancock, one of the named inventors of the patents. Defendants’ applications that collect user location information are the accused products in the suit.

New NPE Location Services IP, LLC filed suits against AT&T, Foursquare, Telenav, Walmart, and Yahoo, the first cases it has filed. Location Services owns a family of 13 patents related to location based services, four of which are asserted in these cases (5,839,088, 6,202,023, 6,356,834, 8,935,220). The defendants all make or provide applications that collect user location information, which are accused of infringing the patents-in-suit. RPX reviewed the asserted patents in September 2013 as part of a larger portfolio offered in an open market opportunity (Go2 – OMA).