Valve has filed a second amended complaint in the Western District of Washington case (2:23-cv-01016) begun last July against Leigh M. Rothschild and three associated entities Display Technologies, LLC; Patent Asset Management, LLC; and Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems, LLC (RBDS), together with Rothschild counsel Meyler Legal, PLLC and its principal Samuel Meyler. The defendants have refiled a motion to dismiss the complaint in which they argue that Valve is “attempting to make ‘a mountain out of a mole hill’ by characterizing a simple clerical error as some sort of legal malfeasance” under the state’s “Patent Troll Protection Act”. Meanwhile, venue challenges in Eastern District of Texas cases filed this past September by three other Rothschild plaintiffs—Quantum Technology Innovations, LLC; Social Positioning Input Systems, LLC (SPIS); and Symbology Innovations, LLC—are ripening.

Throughout the last few years, prolific inventor and patent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild has consistently remained one of the top filers of NPE litigation. 2019 was no different. Last year saw over 160 defendants added to campaigns launched by plaintiffs associated with Rothschild, the campaigns spanning a wide range of technologies and now involving suits filed (and typically litigated in file-and-settle fashion) in myriad districts. A quick glance at the plaintiff’s early 2020 filings suggest that this year will see more of the same.

In March 2018, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw petitions for inter partes review (IPR) filed in a variety of notable campaigns, including those waged by publicly traded Quarterhill Inc.; privately held XR Communications, LLC; and inventor Leigh M. Rothschild. The Board also instituted trial throughout March in campaigns brought by Oyster Optics, LLC and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited. In addition, the PTAB granted in March a motion to amend in two IPRs against prolific plaintiff Realtime Data, LLC, also issuing final decisions involving patents asserted by Uniloc; Papst Licensing GmbH & Company Kg; Evolved Wireless LLC; Game and Technology Co., Ltd; and TQ Delta LLC.

December 2017 saw five defendants exit and five defendants added to the largest litigation campaign of prolific inventor and frequent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild, who ended last year as runner up among top NPEs for the second time in a row. Symbology Innovations, LLC filed new suits against BankFinancial (1:17-cv-09036), Bounce Energy (2:17-cv-00784), CITGO Petroleum (2:17-cv-00785), Eaton (2:17-cv-00786), and Stewart Information Services (2:17-cv-00787). The complaints assert multiple patents generally related to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server; more than 100 defendants have been accused of infringement through the use of QR (“Quick Response”) codes, in the first of two Rothschild-affiliated campaigns to target such codes.

Since February 2015, Leigh M. Rothschild has been conducting, through Symbology Innovations, LLC, a QR (“Quick Response”) code campaign. The earlier complaints in that campaign assert four patents in a family generally relate to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server. In June 2016, February 2017, and August 2017 respectively, three additional family members issued, one of which has now been asserted in a new round of cases in the campaign, this time by new plaintiff, RFID Technology Innovations, LLC, which Rothschild also controls. The new defendants are Floor & Décor Holdings (2:17-cv-00638), Hallmark Cards (2:17-cv-00639), Grocers Supply Company (Fiesta Mart) (2:17-cv-00637), Sherwin-Williams (2:17-cv-00640), and Ulta Beauty (2:17-cv-00641), and the new complaints continue to target the provision of products with QR codes readable by consumers armed with smartphones.

Over the past few weeks, inventor and frequent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild has filed new rounds of cases through three of his existing subsidiaries—Geographic Location Services, LLC (GLS); Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems, LLC (RBDS); and Symbology Innovations, LLC. On November 14, he also created two more entities in Texas (Location Based Services, LLC and Rothschild Biometric Systems, LLC), continuing a general trend over the last year of moving his litigation from elsewhere (principally Delaware and Florida) to the Eastern District of Texas.

Symbology Innovations, LLC’s latest suits, filed against Best Buy, Brother Industries, NextEra Energy, PGA Tour, and Sysco (Freshpoint), bring the total number of defendants in the NPE’s QR (quick response) codes campaign to 57. As in all of Symbology’s previous cases, this week’s complaints assert three patents (8,936,190; 8,651,369; 8,424,752) from a family of five generally related to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server. The NPE accuses the defendants of infringing the patents-in-suit through QR codes in advertising media, including Internet advertisements. These new filings follow a spate of recent dismissals in Symbology’s campaign, some apparently due to settlements.

On June 7, Leigh M. Rothschild’s Symbology Innovations, LLC sued another eight companies, bringing the total number of defendants in its QR (quick response) codes campaign to 52. The NPEs’ latest complaints accuse AT&T (2:16-cv-00594), Auntie Anne’s (2:16-cv-00597), NETGEAR (2:16-cv-00600), Pioneer (2:16-cv-00601), and others, of infringing three patents (8,936,190; 8,651,369; 8,424,752) from a family of four generally related to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server. At issue are the defendant’s advertisements that incorporate QR codes. This campaign has hit a wide range of defendants to date, including financial services companies (Bank of America, Citigroup, SunTrust Banks), manufacturers of consumer products (General Mills, Unilever), retailers (JC Penney, Ralph Lauren), and insurance companies (Aetna, State Farm). Court filings suggest that multiple defendants have settled with Symbology.

Symbology Innovations, LLC has added another wave of lawsuits to its only litigation campaign, which it began last year; the new defendants are eleven banks and other financial services companies: Bank of America (2:16-cv-00443), Beacon Payments (2:16-cv-00444), Citibank (2:16-cv-00450), HSBC Bank (2:16-cv-00447), JPMorgan Chase (2:16-cv-00446), Landmark Bank (2:16-cv-00448), Lifelock (2:16-cv-00458), SunTrust Bank (2:16-cv-00449), and Texas Bank and Trust (2:16-cv-000451). The complaints assert three patents (8,936,190; 8,651,369; 8,424,752) from a family of four generally related to using a mobile device to take a picture of an object having “symbology” from which information about the object can be retrieved from a remote server. The accused products are advertisements with QR (quick response) codes on them, which can be used to download additional, related information, which for many of the defendants is a related mobile app.

The number of infringement suits filed by NPEs controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild sharply increased last year, with over 140 patent cases filed in 2015 compared to just 35 in 2014. In fact, according to RPX’s 2015 NPE Activity: Highlights report published on January 4, 2016, Rothschild ranked first among the top ten NPEs by campaign defendants added in 2015.