PLANO, Texas (Legal Newsline) - A Texas-based company that was tagged the most prolific patent “troll” in 2014 filed an additional 40 infringement lawsuits in May -- and all over the same patent.
Last year, the non-practicing entity, eDekka LLC, reportedly filed more than 100 patent lawsuits against retailers.
So far this year, it has filed nearly as many.
As previously reported, eDekka filed 21 lawsuits on April 24, another 20 on May 1 and another 21 on May 8.
Among the retailers targeted: Destination Maternity, Adidas, Columbia Sportswear, Birchbox, Asics, Fathead, Groupon, Guess?, Hallmark, Hugo Boss, Forever 21, Mrs. Fields, MARS and Lucky Brands.
According to a more recent search of PACER, an online service that provides access to federal court documents, eDekka filed 20 more lawsuits on May 15 and another 21 on May 22.
Among those named defendants this time: Starbucks, Pier 1 Imports, Perry Ellis, Hershey, Wet Seal, The Yankee Candle Company and LOreal USA.
All of eDekka’s lawsuits have been filed in the plaintiff-friendly U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
And like the first rounds of lawsuits filed this year, the May 15 and May 22 complaints are six pages in length and focus on the infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,266,674 entitled “Random Access Information Retrieval Utilizing User-Defined Labels.”
The company claims in its lawsuits that the retailers’ websites include a “shopping cart” function that infringes on the ‘674 patent.
According to documents filed along with the complaints, the patent was originally filed in March 1992 by Sunnyvale, Calif., inventor Donald J. Hejna Jr.
Issued to eDekka in 2001, the ‘674 patent covers a method for utilizing user-defined labels to retrieve information. It does not appear, at first glance, to have anything to do with the Internet.
In looking at drawings attached to the complaints, it looks more like a pager of some sort.
Neither a website nor a telephone number can be found for eDekka, only an address: 3400 Silverstone Drive, Suite 191, Plano, Texas 75023.
Attempts to reach the company’s attorneys, Austin Hansley and Brandon LaPray of Dallas-based Austin Hansley PLLC, have gone unanswered.
The lawsuits are nearly identical to those filed against retailers last year, including Amazon, American Girl, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Etsy, Sears, The Home Depot and more.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at patents@legalnewsline.com.