OMAHA, Neb. (Legal Newsline) -- Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who in July initiated an investigation into whether patent infringement enforcement efforts by a Texas law firm violate Nebraska law, now is being sued by the company that hired the firm.
In an amended complaint filed Aug. 19, Activision TV Inc. added Bruning, Chief Deputy Attorney General David Cookson and Assistant Attorney General David Lopez to the lawsuit it filed against Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. in July.
Activision argues in its 33-page complaint that Bruning unfairly referred to it as a "patent troll" without doing a thorough investigation.
Patent trolls are companies that purchase groups of patents without an intent to market or develop a product. The companies then target other businesses with lawsuits alleging infringement of the patents they bought.
"On information and belief, as of July 18, 2013, neither Defendants Bruning, Cookson or Lopez, nor any person acting at their direction or under their control, had obtained or reviewed the file histories of the Activision Patents to form an opinion as to the proper scope to be accorded any of the claims in the Activision Patents," according to the company's complaint.
That day, Bruning announced his office initiated an investigation into whether patent infringement enforcement efforts by Texas law firm Farney Daniels LLP violate Nebraska law.
Farney Daniels sent multiple letters to Nebraska businesses on behalf of patent trolls threatening lawsuits over patent infringement.
"Patent trolls make egregious threats with little or no valid legal purpose to gain fast money," Bruning said in a statement in July.
"It is a top priority of our office to protect Nebraska consumers and businesses from this sort of baseless harassment."
The attorney general informed Activision and its lawyers that they needed to cease and desist, and that they were potentially violating state law.
Click here to read Activision's amended complaint.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.