Case Filed: Oct 10, 2013
Case Closed: Jun 2014
Court: Delaware District Court
Judge: Leonard P. Stark
Case Summary:
Pragmatus, a licensing company
based in Alexandria, Virginia, asserted two US patents on mobile devices that
can be tracked by GPS signals. The case was filed against Samsung, a South
Korean company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul.
Patents –in-Suit:
The patents in the suit included
US8149124 and US8466795 both reading ‘Personal security and tracking system’
issued duly by USPTO on Apr 12, 2012 and Jun 18, 2013, respectively. The
patents are set to expire[i]
by Jan 21, 2017 and are currently assigned[ii]
to Pragmatus (source: MaxVal’s Assignment
Database).
The '124 patent describes a
method for tracking a mobile device through GPS signals, while the '795 patent
discloses a cellular device used in housing components including a speaker,
microphone or battery.
As in Complaint:
The complaint stated that Samsung
directly infringed the patents by making, using, offering for sale, selling
and/or practicing the inventions covered by the claims of the '124 and ‘795
patents by providing the Samsung Galaxy S IV smartphone and indirectly
infringed by encouraging or aiding third parties (e.g., Samsung’s users) to use
the smartphone in a way that infringes the '124 and ‘795 patents.
According to the complaint,
Samsung had prior knowledge of the '124
and the '795 patents by virtue of letters sent by Pragmatus to Samsung
Electronics Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Samsung
Telecommunications America, thus stating the infringement was willful.
Pragmatus requested judgment
declaring that the patents-in-suit are valid and enforceable. Additionally, demanded
damages adequate to compensate Pragmatus for Samsung’s infringement including
enhanced damages, as a result of willful infringement.
Case Trial:
Initially, defendants filed a
motion to stay the case due to a pending final disposition of a related
investigation in U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), considering which
the court granted the stay. The
proceedings came to end when plaintiff filed a stipulation of dismissal with
court ordering the case dismissed without prejudice with each party to bear its
own costs.
See 1:13-cv-01683
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[i]
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.
[ii]
MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service
where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target
applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.
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