MARSHALL, Texas — Twenty-two more adult companies have been sued by InMotion Imagery Technologies over a video-indexing processes patent, XBIZ has learned.
So far, Houston-based InMotion has filed infringement claims against 40 adult companies in five suits in two years over U.S. Patent No. 6,526,219.
In the first of two suits filed in the past week, InMotion has named as defendants Girls Gone Wild, Pure Play Media, Sin City Entertainment, V.C.X. Ltd., Ventura Content, Pink Visual Productions, Kick Ass Pictures, Metro Media Entertainment, Sticky Video and FilmCo Productions Inc.
In the second suit, InMotion filed against Third World Media, Channel 69 Video, Notorious Productions, White Ghetto, Black Market Entertainment, Combat Zone, Gentlemen's Video, Gourmet Video, Smash Pictures, Digital Sin, Acid Rain Productions and Diabolic Video Productions.
Inmotion says its patent relates "generally to video recording and, more particularly, to a system for storing and displaying thumbnail images representative of the contents of a video-recording medium, thereby enabling a user to locate a particular section rapidly and conveniently."
Other adult companies targeted in three other suits include LFP Video Group, Elegant Angel, New Sensations, Girlfriends Films, Red Light District, Zero Tolerance Entertainment, Jules Jordan Video, Anabolic Video Productions, West Coast Productions, Devil’s Films, Reality Kings, Wicked Pictures, Digital Playground and Evil Angel Productions, as well as Vivid Entertainment, Penthouse Digital, Adam & Eve and Bang Productions.
The suits target mainstream companies, as well, including studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Summit Entertainment, Image Entertainment, Echo Bridge Entertainment, Loose Cannon Films Inc. and Vanguard International Cinema.
All five suits have been filed at U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas.
The federal court in Marshall is a popular one for patent lawsuits. Adult industry attorneys confide that quick trials and plaintiff-friendly juries are the big draw there.
So are the Texas-sized verdicts sometimes handed to winners.
Patent cases are heard faster in Marshall than in many other courts, forcing some defendants to buckle under the pressure of time when trying to sort out complex infringement cases.
And while only about five percent make it to trial in Marshall, patent holders win 78 percent of the time, compared with an average of 59 percent nationwide, according to LegalMetric, a company that tracks patent litigation.
So far, according to court records, some of the plaintiffs in the first case have been pared, likely settling their cases with InMotion.
But some adult studios have taken a strong defensive posture, saying that their cases against them should be thrown out because the patent claims are too broad and that InMotion relies upon boilerplate generalities and legal conclusions.
Inmotion in all five suits is seeking damages and an injunction against the companies, as well as attorneys fees.
Inmotion's attorney, William Davis, did not respond to XBIZ to elaborate on the five suits.
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