by: Robert Wagner, intellectual property attorney at Picadio Sneath Miller & Norton, P.C. (Robert Wagner on G+)
A colleague brought to my attention an interesting development in a patent “troll” case in the Southern District of New York that may foreshadow a new approach for companies to defend themselves in these kinds of lawsuits. It is a rather extreme approach, and it will be interesting to see how this case progresses.
Background
According to the two complaints, FindTheBest operates a web site that provides consumers with data-driven comparisons of a wide variety of products and subjects, such as phones, cars, and ski resorts. Lumen View contends that FindTheBest infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,069,073, which relates to a “System and Method for Facilitating Bilateral and Multilateral Decision-Making.”
Lumen View was formed on February 23, 2012 and obtained the patent in suit seven days later. It allegedly conducts no other business aside from filing patent lawsuits and licensing in patents, and has filed more than 20 patent infringement lawsuits relating to the’073 patent in the last 18 months.
On May 30, 2013 (the day after the complaint was filed), FindTheBest claims that it received a letter from Lumen View enclosing the complaint and demanding that FindTheBest pay to settle the lawsuit. Lumen View apparently initially demanded that FindTheBest pay $85,000 for a licensing fee, but dropped that demand to $55,000 the day before FindTheBest’s answer to the complaint was due. FindTheBest rejected Lumen View’s settlement demands and continued with the lawsuit. The parties have submitted a list of claim terms to be construed, and FindTheBest has moved for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that the patent is invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
On September 16, 2013, FindTheBest filed an entirely separate lawsuit in the same court against Lumen View, its principals, and other related entities, bringing claims for violating RICO, extortion, abuse of process, civil conspiracy, and unfair business practices. FindTheBest contends that Lumen View engaged in a criminal enterprise by failing to conduct proper due diligence before filing its lawsuits and knowingly pursuing frivolous cases in order to extort settlement money from its targets. Defendants in this second case have not yet answered the complaint.
What This Case Means
This is an interesting and aggressive approach to fighting back against what FindTheBest apparently believes is a frivolous and improper lawsuit. It is curious that it is bringing this second lawsuit at this time—before the first case is even close to being resolved. One wonders how the Court will respond to this second action. Will it allow it to proceed? Will it stay or dismiss the case pending the resolution of the first lawsuit?
Civil RICO cases are generally disfavored by the courts and notoriously hard to prosecute. In general, such a claim would be extremely difficult for a defendant to bring in a standard patent infringement lawsuit because RICO requires a pattern of racketeering activity and multiple victims. In this case, however, because Lumen View allegedly filed multiple extortionate lawsuits against multiple “victims,” FindTheBest may be able to overcome these pleading hurdles.
Regardless, as long as the second lawsuit exists, it creates immense pressure on the patent holder and the persons and companies associated with it and likely completely changes the settlement dynamic. For one thing, Lumen View likely cannot take the approach that Loadsys did against Kapersky Labs and unilaterally drop the lawsuit if it thinks it will not prevail. Such an action would feed right into FindTheBest’s theory that the lawsuit was a sham and increase the chances that FindTheBest could prevail in its lawsuit.
It will be interesting to follow this case and see how it progresses. If nothing else, it gives all parties something more to think about in lawsuits of this type.