Suit Seeks to Invalidate Lodsys Patents

CHICAGO — Patent holding company Lodsys, which recently sent out scores of infringement notices to online adult companies, has itself been hit with a suit over threats of lawsuits and attempts to get companies to license its patented methods.

Michigan market research company Foresee Results Inc. said in a suit filed Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Chicago that Lodsys has been sending out infringement notices to several of its customers — Best Buy, Adidas and WE Energies — over four patents, one of which is the same patent that Lodsys is trying to force online adult companies to license.

Just last week, numerous online adult companies received letters delivered by FedEx, saying that the companies have been infringing on U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078, which includes "methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network."

According to U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078's abstract, "In an exemplary system, information is received at a central location from different units of a commodity. The information is generated from two-way local interactions between users of the different units of the commodity and a user interface in the different units of the commodity. The interactions elicit from respective users their perceptions of the commodity."

In a preemptive move, Foresee Results on Tuesday asked the federal court for relief by seeking a declaratory judgment against Lodsys' attempt to force licensing over U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078, as well as U.S. Patent Nos. 5,999,908, 7,620,565 and 7,133,834.

ForeSee in Tuesday's suit denies that it infringes any valid and enforceable claim of the U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078's, as well as three others, "and avers that the assertions of infringement cannot be maintained consistently with statutory conditions of patentability and the statutory requirements for disclosure and claiming that must be satisfied for patent validity."

Foresee is asking for declaratory judgment that the patent claims are invalid and a permanent restraining order forcing Lodsys to halt its practice of interfering with its business or customers' business. It also seeks attorneys fees.

Lodsys CEO Mark Small told XBIZ this week that he couldn't comment on the patent infringement notices but would let court filings do the talking for the company.

"We made a decision not to do press and apply our resources to licensing discussions, and we want to be consistent/fair in our policy," Small said.

Foresee attorney Brent Hawkins, of Chicago-based law firm McDermott, Will and Emery, did not immediately respond for comment to XBIZ.

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Nebraska Legislature Passes Republican's Age Verification Bill With No Votes Against It

Nebraska’s unicameral legislature has passed the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still have antitrust claims that they may pursue in the future.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have filed a petition before the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit asking to stay its recent upholding the law because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

APClips Names Avery Jane 'Creator of the Month'

APClips has named Avery Jane its Creator of the Month for March.

JustFor.fans Offers Gumroad Users Platform to Sell NSFW Artwork

JustFor.fans (JFF) is offering Gumroad users a platform to sell NSFW artwork after the latter banned adult content.

Live Cam Academy Offers Free Access to Educational Resources

Live Cam Academy is offering its educational resources for free to content creators and cam models.

Show More