Case Filed: Nov 01, 2013
Case Closed: Jul 11, 2014
Origin Case: 3:12-cv-00636
Case Summary:
Texas-based, H-W Technology LC
sued Overstock.com alleging that the online retailer’s smartphone application
infringed claims 9 and 17 of US7525955. The claims relate to a method of
performing contextual searches on an Internet Protocol (IP) phone. The
complaint was originally filed in Texas District Court in Mar 2012. District
court entered judgment favoring Overstock and declared invalidity of claims 9
and 17 to which H-W Technology filed an appeal. However, appeal court affirmed
the judgment.
Patent-in-Suit:
The patent at issue was:
US7525955 entitled ‘Internet protocol (IP) phone with search and advertising
capability,’ issued on Apr 28, 2009 and expiring[i]
by Mar 17, 2025. H-W Technology is the current assignee[ii]
of the patent (source: MaxVal’s Assignment
Database). The ‘955 patent describes an IP phone with search and
advertising capability that includes a platform adaptable to be used with
different applications running on the IP phone as well as with different
communication infrastructures.
As in Complaint:
Overstock was accused of infringing
the ‘955 patent by making, using, importing, selling or offering to sell a
multi-convergence device having domain specific applications that allow users
to complete a transaction without the need to generate a voice call. The
complaint cited Overstock smartphone as the infringing product.
District Court Judgment:
In Jan 2013, Overstock moved for summary
judgment of invalidity of claims. Briefly after claim construction, court
opinioned claims 9 and 17 were indefinite and ordered dismissal with prejudice
and accordingly, in Oct 2013, the judgment was rendered.
Appeal Court Judgment:
H-W appealed concerning the order
of district court granting summary judgment in favor of Overstock.
Specifically, H-W challenged the district court’s declaring claims 9 and 17 of
the ‘955 patent invalid. Appeal court after hearing the case, affirmed the
district court’s judgment declaring claim 17 as invalid and claim 9 (corrected
or uncorrected version) as not assertable in the lawsuit. However, it stated
that claim 9 (corrected) is not a subject of litigation and therefore is not
invalid.
See 2014-1054
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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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