Recent patent/copyright infringement cases filed in U.S. District Court

Marshall Division, Eastern District of Texas

Aug. 16

-Draka-Comteq Americas Inc. vs. Furukawa Electric North America Inc. et al

DCA is a manufacturer of optical fibers and fiber-optic cables. The company claims it holds the rights to eight patents relating to fiber-optics, including U.S. Patent No. 5,911,023 issued June 8, 1999.
The defendant companies are infringing on the patents by producing and selling fiber-optic cables and optical fibers, the plaintiff alleges.

"DCA has suffered and will continue to suffer damages as a result of defendants' infringement," the original complaint states.
The plaintiff alleges that it will continue to suffer damages unless the defendants are enjoined by the court.

"DCA has no adequate remedy at law," the plaintiff claims.
DCA is seeking reasonable royalties, treble damages, interest, attorney fees, court costs, monetary damages in an amount according to proof and other relief as the court deems just and proper.

DCA is represented by Ralph Mittelberger of Arent Fox LLP in Washington, D.C.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.

Case No. 2:07-cv-00352-LED

- Nextcard LLC vs. American Express Company et al

Nextcard, a Marshall-based company, claims it holds the rights to four patents, including U.S. Patent No. 6,405,181, involving on-line credit approval and rejection.

The company alleges in the suit that American Express, Discover, HSBC and PNC Financial Services are infringing on the patents "by offering credit to consumers via applications that are transmitted over the Internet."

"Nextcard is entitled to recover from each defendant the damages sustained by Nextcard as a result of defendants' wrongful acts in an amount subject to proof at trial," the original complaint states.

The plaintiff is seeking adequate damages, enhanced damages, interest, attorney fees, a permanent injunction against the defendants and other relief that the court may deem just and proper.

Donald Puckett of Monts & Ware LLP in Dallas is representing Nextcard.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward.

Case No. 2:07-cv-00354-TJW

Aug. 17

- Brooks v. eProduction Solutions Inc. et al

Brooks, a Garland resident, claims he is one of four inventors of U.S. Patent No. 5,251,696 issued Oct. 12, 1993. The '696 Patent covers methods and apparatus for varying the speed of operating an oil well pumping unit, specifically in response to variations in the load.

Brooks says the system is particularly suited for use in high viscosity or "heavy" oil wells where rod float can be a problem.

Defendants infringe on the patent through products including Weatherford's iBeam Rod Pump Controller and ePic Rod Pump Controller.

The plaintiff claims that the defendants' acts of infringement have caused damage to Brooks and that Brooks is entitled to recover damages.

The plaintiff is asking for the court to enjoin the defendants.

"Unless enjoined, defendants' infringement of Brooks' exclusive rights under the '696 Patent will continue, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law," the original complaint states.

The plaintiff is seeking reasonable royalties, an accounting of all profits, a permanent injunction and attorney fees.

Hugh Brooks of Houston is representing the plaintiff.

U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis has been assigned to the case.

Case No. 2:07-cv-00357-LED

- JuxtaComm Tech Inc. vs. Ascential Software Corp. et al

JuxtaComm, a Canadian company, has named 21 defendants including IBM, Microsoft, Hummingbird and other software companies in a patent infringement suit.

The suit is regarding U.S. Patent No. 6,195,662 issued Feb. 27, 2001, for "System for Transforming and Exchanging Data Between Distributed Heterogeneous Computer Systems."

The plaintiff is seeking an amount subject to proof at trial, a preliminary and permanent injunction, an accounting of all damages, actual damages, enhanced damages and other relief that the court may deem just and proper.

Lawrence Macon of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in San Antonio is representing the plaintiff.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.

Case No. 2:07-cv-00359-LED

Aug. 20

-International Printer Corp. vs. Brother International Corp. et al

International Printer claims it holds the rights to two groups of patents which pertain to multi-function printers.
IP has filed a suit against 15 defendants including Brother, Dell, Eastman Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, OkiData, Samsung, Epson, Toshiba and Xerox for infringing on its patents.

The infringements involve the defendants' production and sales of networkable multi-function printers and some of the six infringement claims involve controlling copy machines from a remote location.

IP is seeking damages "to compensate for each of the unlawful actions set forth in complaint."

George Chandler of Lufkin is representing the plaintiff.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward.

Case No. 2:07-CV-00361-TJW

Tyler Division, Eastern District of Texas

Aug. 16

- BarTex Research LLC vs. FedEx Corporation et al

BarTex, a Dallas-based company, claims it has the rights to U.S. Patent No. 6,666,377 issued Dec. 23, 2003, for "Bar Code Data Entry Device."

The defendant has infringed on the patent through FedEx shipping labels with two types of barcode that have overlapping information that are sold through FedEx stores and Web sites.

BarTex is seeking reasonable royalties, interest, attorney fees, a permanent injunction and other relief as the court may deem just and proper.

T. John Ward Jr. of Longview is representing the plaintiff.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.

Case No. 6:07-cv-00385

Aug. 21

-Lonestar Inventions LP vs. Xilinix Inc.

Lonestar Inventions, a Dallas-based limited partnership, claims to hold the rights on U.S. Patent No. 5,208,725 for "High Capacitance Structure in a Semiconductor Device." The patent was assigned to Lonestar on May 4, 1993, by inventor Osman Akcasu.

Lonestar alleges that Xilinix is infringing on the patent.

"As a result of Xilinix infringement of the '725 Patent, Lonestar is suffering an irreparable injury in that it is being deprived of its rights in unique property," the original complaint states. "The remedies at law, such as monetary damages, are not fully adequate to compensate for that injury. Considering the balance of hardships between Lonestar and Xilinix, a remedy in equity is warranted. The public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction."

The plaintiff is seeking a permanent injunction, actual damages, interest, attorney fees and other proper relief.

Kurt Saver of Daffer McDaniel LLP in Austin is representing Lonestar.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.

Case No. 6:07-cv-00393-LED.

-VCode Holdings et al vs. Datalogic Scanning Inc. et al

VCode Holdings and VData claim they hold the rights to U.S. Patent No. 5,331,176 issued July 19, 1994, for "Hand Held Two Dimensional Symbol Reader with a Symbol Illumination Window."

The plaintiffs allege that the defendants, including Datalogic Scanning, Hand Held Products Inc. and Siemens Energy and Automation Inc. have infringed on the patent. The infringing products include Datalogic Jet and Gryphon Series Scanners, Image Kiosk by Hand Held and Siemens Hawkeye Readers.

"Defendants have actual knowledge of the '176 Patent and infringing acts continue to be willful," the original complaint states.

VCode is asking the court to enjoin the defendants from the infringing activities and seeks reasonable royalties, treble damages, interest and attorney fees.

Eric Albritton of Longview is representing the plaintiff.

U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis has been assigned to the case.

Case No. 6:07-cv-00394-LED