Step Aside, Uniloc: There's a New Biggest Suer in IP Land

David Bario

The American Lawyer

November 18, 2010

Just last week, we told you about the diminutive IP litigation dynamo Uniloc, which has sued a grand total of 92 companies for alleged infringement of its software anti-piracy patent.

Uniloc's sue-'em-all strategy certainly impressed us (especially since its CEO swears his company is not a patent troll). But then we read a Bloomberg item about a little company called Condatis, which filed a Nov. 11 suit in Marshall, Tex., against 40 defendants, alleging infringement of its patent for an "interactive dynamic realtime management system for powered vehicles." Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new biggest suer! The latest case, in addition to three previous Condatis suits involving the same patent, brings the number of defendants fighting Condatis infringement claims to a whopping 120.

Condatis started its binge in federal district court in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., last April, the same month it acquired U.S. patent No. 5,450,321. In that case, in which it listed its principal place of business as Chevy Chase, Md., Condatis targeted 38 companies that sell ship monitoring technology. Then the company moved its principal address to Plano, Tx., which just happens to be in the Eastern District of Texas, a.k.a. troll heaven. Condatis filed two infringement suits in federal district court in Marshall--targeting Audi and 41 marine, rail, and aviation companies, including Boeing, BP, Siemens, and Transocean--before filing its fourth case Thursday.

It's worth noting that the defendants in the Condatis cases aren't the usual high-tech targets of patent trolls or "non-performing entities." The suits may be a sign that NPEs are casting their nets wider and branching out of the software and electronics industries in obtaining and seeking to enforce patents.

Judging by the dockets in the first Condatis three cases, plenty of defendants--especially the larger companies-- are fighting back. Navico, Audi, and Transocean, among others, have filed counterclaims demanding that the '321 patent be declared invalid. Lawyers for Audi and Transocean at Kenyon & Kenyon and Fulbright & Jaworski, respectively, didn't return our calls or declined to comment.

Condatis is represented in the Texas cases by Andrew Spangler of Spangler Law, who didn't return a call seeking comment. We also called a number listed on Condatis's bare-bones website to ask someone about its litigation strategy. No one called us back.