DCT
1:17-cv-00500
DDR Holdings LLC v. TicketNetwork Inc
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: DDR Holdings, LLC (Georgia)
- Defendant: TicketNetwork, Inc. (Delaware)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Farnan LLP; Louis J. Hoffman, P.C.
- Case Identification: 1:17-cv-00500, D. Del., 05/02/2017
- Venue Allegations: Venue is alleged to be proper in the District of Delaware because TicketNetwork is a Delaware corporation and because it offers its affiliate program to customers in Delaware.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s affiliate program, “TicketNetwork Private Label,” infringes four patents related to a system for generating a composite e-commerce web page that combines a third-party merchant's product information with the visual branding elements of a host website.
- Technical Context: The technology addresses a core problem in early affiliate e-commerce: preventing a host website from losing visitor traffic when a user clicks on an advertisement for a third-party merchant.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint heavily references prior litigation involving the parent patent, U.S. Patent 7,818,399. In DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., 773 F.3d 1245 (Fed. Cir. 2014), the Federal Circuit affirmed a jury verdict that the ’399 Patent was infringed, not invalid, and constituted patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The complaint notes that the remaining patents-in-suit were issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after that Federal Circuit decision. Plaintiff also alleges it provided Defendant with pre-suit notice of three of the patents-in-suit in January 2016 and the fourth patent-in-suit in April 2017.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1998-09-17 | Earliest Priority Date for all Patents-in-Suit |
| 2010-10-19 | U.S. Patent 7,818,399 Issued |
| 2013-08-20 | U.S. Patent 8,515,825 Issued |
| 2014-12-01 | Federal Circuit affirms validity and infringement of the ’399 Patent (approx. date) |
| 2015-05-26 | U.S. Patent 9,043,228 Issued |
| 2016-01-08 | Plaintiff provides Defendant with notice of the ’399, ’825, and ’228 Patents |
| 2017-04-13 | Plaintiff provides Defendant with notice of impending issuance of the ’876 Patent |
| 2017-05-02 | U.S. Patent 9,639,876 Issued |
| 2017-05-02 | Complaint Filed |
II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis
U.S. Patent No. 7,818,399 - "Methods of expanding commercial opportunities for internet websites through coordinated offsite marketing"
- Issued: October 19, 2010
The Invention Explained
- Problem Addressed: The patent’s background section describes a “fundamental drawback” of prior art affiliate marketing programs where a host website would lose visitor traffic when a user clicked on a third-party advertisement, as the user would be taken away to the merchant’s separate website (’399 Patent, col. 2:38-44; Compl. ¶10).
- The Patented Solution: The invention provides a system where activating a merchant’s link on a host website generates a new, "composite" web page. This page displays the merchant's product information while retaining the "look and feel" of the host website, thereby giving the user the impression they are still on the host's site and preventing the loss of visitor traffic (’399 Patent, Abstract; ’399 Patent, col. 3:9-15).
- Technical Importance: This technical approach allowed host websites to participate in affiliate e-commerce and generate revenue without ceding their visitor traffic to third-party merchants (’399 Patent, col. 2:62-67).
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts independent claim 1 (Compl. ¶17).
- Essential elements of claim 1 include:
- Automatically recognizing, at an outsource provider's server, the source page on which a link was activated.
- Automatically retrieving pre-stored data associated with the source page.
- Automatically generating and transmitting a second web page that includes both (i) information associated with the merchant's "commerce object" and (ii) a plurality of "visually perceptible elements" derived from the retrieved pre-stored data that correspond to the source page.
- The complaint also asserts dependent claims 3-6, 8-11, 13-16, and 18 (’399 Patent, claim 1; Compl. ¶17).
U.S. Patent No. 8,515,825 - "Methods of expanding commercial opportunities for internet websites through coordinated offsite marketing"
- Issued: August 20, 2013
The Invention Explained
- Problem Addressed: As a continuation of the ’399 Patent, this patent addresses the same technical problem: prior art affiliate programs caused host websites to lose visitor traffic by redirecting users to merchant websites (’825 Patent, col. 2:38-44).
- The Patented Solution: The invention solves this problem by serving a composite e-commerce page that incorporates the "look and feel" of the host website alongside the merchant's product offerings, creating a transparent and seamless user experience (’825 Patent, Abstract; ’825 Patent, col. 3:9-15).
- Technical Importance: The solution enables host websites to monetize visitor traffic through affiliate marketing without the significant drawback of losing those visitors to the merchant's site (’825 Patent, col. 2:62-67).
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts independent claims 1, 11, and 17 (Compl. ¶17).
- Essential elements of claim 1 include:
- Receiving an electronic request from a visitor computer generated by the selection of a URL on a source web page.
- Automatically retrieving, with a server computer, pre-stored data.
- Automatically serving to the visitor computer a composite web page that includes (i) information associated with the commerce object linked to the URL and (ii) a plurality of visually perceptible elements from the pre-stored data that define an overall appearance visually corresponding to the source page.
- The complaint also asserts dependent claims 2, 6-7, 10, 12, and 15-19 (’825 Patent, claim 1; Compl. ¶17).
U.S. Patent No. 9,043,228 - "Specially programmed computer server serving pages offering commercial opportunities for merchants through coordinated offsite marketing"
- Issued: May 26, 2015
- Technology Synopsis: As a continuation in the same family, the ’228 Patent is directed to the same technical solution of generating a composite, co-branded webpage to prevent visitor traffic loss in affiliate e-commerce systems (’228 Patent, Abstract). The claims are framed from the perspective of a specially programmed computer server.
- Asserted Claims: Independent claims 1 and 9 are asserted (Compl. ¶17).
- Accused Features: The complaint alleges that TicketNetwork's server system, which dynamically assembles and serves custom-branded pages for its affiliates, infringes the ’228 Patent (Compl. ¶18).
U.S. Patent No. 9,639,876 - "Method and computer system for serving commerce information of an outsource provider in connection with host web pages offering commercial opportunities"
- Issued: May 2, 2017
- Technology Synopsis: The ’876 Patent, also a continuation, claims methods and systems for serving commerce information from an outsource provider that maintains the look and feel of a host website (’876 Patent, Abstract). The claims focus on the interaction between the host, the outsource provider, and the end-user's computing device.
- Asserted Claims: Independent claims 1 and 11 are asserted (Compl. ¶17).
- Accused Features: The complaint alleges that the TicketNetwork "Private Label" affiliate program, which generates composite pages for host websites, infringes the ’876 Patent (Compl. ¶18-20).
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
- The accused instrumentality is TicketNetwork's "affiliate program, TicketNetwork Private Label" (Compl. ¶12, ¶18).
Functionality and Market Context
- The complaint alleges the program functions as an e-commerce system where TicketNetwork acts as an "outsource provider" for its customers, who are referred to as "hosts" (Compl. ¶18). A host places a customized link on its website that, when activated by an internet visitor, directs the visitor's device to TicketNetwork's server system (Compl. ¶18). The server system allegedly recognizes the host's source page from data in the link's URL and then "dynamically assemble[s]" and serves a "composite web page" (Compl. ¶18). This composite page is alleged to combine product information from TicketNetwork with "visually perceptible elements that visually correspond to the source page," thereby retaining the host website's branding and overall appearance (Compl. ¶18, ¶19). The complaint cites TicketNetwork's own marketing materials, which describe the service as providing a "custom-branded site... customized to your current brand's look and feel" (Compl. ¶19).
IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations
Analyst Note: No probative visual evidence provided in complaint.
’399 Patent Infringement Allegations
| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) automatically... recognizing as the source page the one of the first web pages on which the link has been activated | TicketNetwork's server system recognizes the host's source page based on data contained in the activated URL. | ¶18 | col. 3:9-15 |
| (b) automatically retrieving from a storage coupled to the server pre-stored data associated with the source page | TicketNetwork's server system directs the visitor's device to download stored data, such as HTML and CSS files, that define the visual elements corresponding to the source page. | ¶18 | col. 3:16-24 |
| (c) automatically with the server computer-generating and transmitting to the web browser a second web page that includes: | TicketNetwork's server system dynamically assembles and serves instructions for displaying a composite web page to the visitor's device. | ¶18 | col. 3:35-39 |
| (i) information associated with the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated | The composite web page contains information about the "commerce object" (e.g., event tickets) and makes it available for sale. | ¶18 | col. 1:53-58 |
| (ii) a plurality of visually perceptible elements derived from the retrieved pre-stored data and visually corresponding to the source page | The composite page displays visual elements (e.g., logo, colors, fonts) that correspond to the host's source page, retaining its "look and feel." | ¶18-20 | col. 1:50-53 |
’825 Patent Infringement Allegations
| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| upon receiving over the Internet an electronic request generated by a visitor computer in response to selection of a uniform resource locator (URL) within a source web page... | A visitor on a host's website activates a link (URL), which redirects the visitor's computer to TicketNetwork's server system. | ¶18 | col. 3:9-15 |
| (a) automatically, with a server computer... retrieving data pre-stored in a storage device... | TicketNetwork's server system accesses stored data, such as HTML, CSS, or image files, defining the visual elements of the host's source page. | ¶18, ¶21 | col. 3:16-24 |
| (b) automatically, with the server computer, serving to the visitor computer a composite web page of the second website, which composite web page includes: | The server system dynamically assembles and serves a composite page to the visitor. | ¶18 | col. 3:35-39 |
| (i) information associated with the commerce object associated with the URL that has been activated... | The served page includes information about the "commerce object" (e.g., tickets) from TicketNetwork. | ¶18 | col. 1:53-58 |
| (ii) a plurality of visually perceptible elements derived from the retrieved pre-stored data defining an overall appearance of the composite web page that... visually corresponds to the source web page | The served page includes visual elements corresponding to the host's source page, creating a "custom-branded site" that retains the host's "look and feel." | ¶18-20 | col. 1:50-53 |
Identified Points of Contention
- Scope Questions: The analysis may focus on whether the accused system's method of branding meets the claim requirement of retrieving "pre-stored data associated with the source page." A question for the court could be whether simply applying a customer-selected template or set of branding parameters constitutes retrieving data "associated with the source page" itself, as opposed to data associated with a customer account.
- Technical Questions: A central technical question may be how TicketNetwork’s system "generates" or "assembles" the accused composite page. The infringement allegation rests on the idea that a new page is created that combines elements from two different sources. The defense could raise the question of whether the accused system uses a different technology, such as i-framing a merchant's content within a host's template, that might not meet the "composite web page" or "generating" limitations as construed by the court.
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "composite web page"
- Context and Importance: This term defines the infringing article. Its construction is critical because the infringement case depends on whether the accused TicketNetwork page is a single, integrated "composite" page that combines host and merchant elements, or if it is technically something else, such as one page displayed within a frame of another. Practitioners may focus on this term because the specific web technologies used to combine visual elements (e.g., server-side generation vs. client-side framing) could determine whether the accused system falls within the claim scope.
- Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The specification describes the page as one that "combines certain visual elements of a ‘host’ website with content of a third-party merchant," language that does not explicitly limit the technical method of combination (Compl. ¶10, quoting Fed. Cir. opinion).
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The patent repeatedly uses the terms "generates" and "dynamically assembled," which may suggest a server-side process of creating a new, single HTML document from multiple data sources, potentially excluding technologies like i-frames where two separate pages are merely displayed together on the client-side (’399 Patent, col. 4:10-11; Compl. ¶18).
The Term: "visually perceptible elements"
- Context and Importance: This term is at the core of the "look and feel" concept. Its scope will determine how much of the host's branding must be replicated to infringe. A narrow definition could require a near-perfect replication of the host’s layout, while a broader one might be satisfied by just a logo and color scheme.
- Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The abstract describes storing "a plurality of visually perceptible elements associated with and identifying a source of a host's web page," suggesting the elements serve to identify the source, not necessarily replicate it entirely (’399 Patent, Abstract). The complaint also quotes the Federal Circuit's opinion, which listed "the logo, background color, and fonts" as examples, suggesting a non-exhaustive list (Compl. ¶10).
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The specification states the goal is to create a page that "gives the viewer of the page the impression that she is viewing pages served by the host," which could imply a high degree of visual fidelity is required (’399 Patent, col. 3:24-26). Patent figures like FIG. 15 depict a composite page that substantially mirrors the layout of the host page, which may support a narrower construction requiring replication of navigational elements and page structure.
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges inducement of infringement by TicketNetwork providing "marketing materials and... websites encouragement and direction to its customers to place links in their pages customized to interface with TicketNetwork's servers" (Compl. ¶22). Contributory infringement is also alleged, based on providing a server system that is a material part of the invention with no substantial non-infringing use (Compl. ¶22).
- Willful Infringement: Willfulness is alleged based on pre-suit knowledge. The complaint states that Plaintiff’s counsel provided TicketNetwork with notice of the ’399, ’825, and ’228 patents on January 8, 2016, and of the impending ’876 patent on April 13, 2017 (Compl. ¶12, ¶15). The complaint further alleges that TicketNetwork was aware of the Federal Circuit's judgment upholding the validity and infringement of the ’399 patent but "continued or began activities falling within the scope" of the claims (Compl. ¶28).
VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
- A core issue will be one of definitional scope: how will the court construe the term “composite web page,” and will that construction cover the specific web architecture used by TicketNetwork’s Private Label program, or does the program use a non-infringing alternative such as framing?
- A key evidentiary question will be one of functional correspondence: does the accused program’s use of customer-selected branding templates satisfy the claim limitation of retrieving "pre-stored data associated with the source page," or is there a fundamental mismatch between the data retrieved by the accused system and the data required by the claims?
- A significant legal question will be the precedential effect of prior litigation: how will the Federal Circuit's prior holdings on claim construction, patent eligibility, and infringement concerning the parent '399 patent influence the district court's analysis in this case against a new defendant but involving the same patent family and a technologically similar dispute?