eTAGZ vs. Eolo sport in Patent Lawsuit

eTAGZ (plaintiff) recorded  a suit against Eolo Sport (defendant) for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court of Utah (case no. 2:12-cv-01125) on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.

eTAGZ is involved in digital shopping marketing initiatives for manufacturers, retailers and content providers to drive merchandise sales and capture new consumers. Eolo Sport designs and manufactures outdoor toys and sporting goods under multiple brand names including Eolo Sport. They also carry out OEM manufacturing and development.

The patents involved in this suit are:

Patent Number Current Assignee[1]	Issued Date	Expiration Date[2]	Title
US6298332 eTAGZ	Oct 02, 2001	May 06, 2019	CD-ROM product label apparatus and method
US7503502 eTAGZ	Mar 17, 2009	May 06, 2019	Computer readable hang tag and product
US7703686 eTAGZ	Apr 27, 2010	May 06, 2019	Consumer-computer-readable product label apparatus and method
US8249919 eTAGZ	Aug 21, 2012	May 06, 2019	Computer-readable medium product label apparatus and method

Note: Table information sourced from Maxval’s Assignment Database and Litigation Database.

The eTAGZ patents in the suit involve product marketing and branding through the use of a digital labeling system including a CD, DVD, CD-ROM, memory card, USB flash drive or other digital communication device. Use of digital labeling system creates unique marketing opportunities for vendors and manufacturers. Information about the manufacturer such as branding, product lines, multimedia presentations and interactivity with purchasers are some of the benefits that can be obtained by employing a digital labeling system.  It is used as a means of differentiating products in the marketplace. According to the complaint, the toys marketed as Funtrix Yoyo (the infringing product) allegedly infringe the above patents by the way they are marketed (like including an instructional DVD along with the product). They are sold through various retail stores including the defendant’s website store.eolosport.com.

eTAGZ has recently filed patent infringement suits against the following companies:

Company	Case Number	Date Fled	Status
Dynaflex International	2:12-cv-01106	12/04/2012	Pending
Playmates Toys	2:12-cv-01091	11/29/2012	Pending
Active People	2:12-cv-01090	11/28/2012	Pending
Foiles Migrators	2:12-cv-01067	11/19/2012	Pending
Do It Corporation	2:12-cv-00944	10/09/2012	Pending

If you are interested in knowing more about the cases filed by eTAGZ, please contact us.

For more details, visit MaxVal-IP and subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

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[1] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

[2] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.