Location Based Services LLC v. Mapillary Inc

I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information

• Parties & Counsel:
  • Plaintiff: Location Based Services, LLC (Texas)
  • Defendant: Mapillary Inc. (Delaware)
  • Plaintiff’s Counsel: Bayard, P.A.
• Case Identification: 1:18-cv-01425, D. Del., 09/13/2018
• Venue Allegations: Venue is alleged to be proper in the District of Delaware because the Defendant is a Delaware corporation and therefore a resident of the district.
• Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s photo mapping service infringes a patent related to a system for organizing and displaying geo-located images on a map according to a timeline.
• Technical Context: The technology at issue involves systems that associate digital images with geographic locations and temporal data, allowing users to interactively explore a location through images captured over time.
• Key Procedural History: The complaint asserts that the patented invention was "unconventional and innovative" by noting that the patent's filing date predated the commercial availability of consumer cameras with integrated GPS hardware, such as the Nikon Coolpix P6000 released in August 2008.

Case Timeline

II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 8,311,733 - "Interactive Key Frame Image Mapping System and Method,"

• Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 8,311,733, "Interactive Key Frame Image Mapping System and Method," issued November 13, 2012 (’733 Patent).

The Invention Explained

• Problem Addressed: The patent describes enhancing standard digital maps. While prior art maps could show static points of interest, they lacked a method for integrating and navigating a user's catalog of images associated with various locations and times in an interactive manner (’733 Patent, col. 5:37-47; Fig. 2).
• The Patented Solution: The invention is a computer system that collects images of an area and organizes them based on location, time, and/or image history parameters (’733 Patent, Abstract). It uses a data store and a corresponding table to associate image metadata with a timeline, enabling a user to "instantiate" or display an image from a specific time and place on the map, for instance by interacting with a timeline interface (’733 Patent, col. 6:4-28; Fig. 3).
• Technical Importance: The complaint alleges the patented approach was unconventional because it conceived of combining location, time, and image data before GPS-enabled cameras were widely available to automate the collection of such metadata (Compl. ¶10).

Key Claims at a Glance

• The complaint asserts independent claim 6 of the ’733 Patent (Compl. ¶13).
• The essential elements of claim 6 are:
  • A computer system with a processor and coupled memory.
  • A "mapping module" coupled to the memory, which includes a data store for collecting and storing images of a map area as a function of a timeline, location, or image history.
  • The data store is also configurable to store a "table" that associates metadata for the images with the timeline, location, or history parameter.
  • This association enables the "instantiation of a time-related image" from the images at that location.
• The complaint does not assert any dependent claims.

III. The Accused Instrumentality

Product Identification

• The "Mapillary photo mapping" system, which the complaint identifies as the "Accused Instrumentality" (Compl. ¶11).

Functionality and Market Context

• The complaint describes the accused instrumentality as a computer system that allows for the collection and organization of images (Compl. ¶13). It alleges that the system, which includes a "mapillary server," correlates image information with map data (e.g., GPS information) and stores these images as a function of the timeline they were taken, their location, and an image history parameter. This stored data is allegedly organized to allow for the display of time-related images corresponding to locations on a map (Compl. ¶13). The complaint does not provide detail on the product's market position.

IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations

The complaint references patent Figure 3, which illustrates data stores for different locations containing image catalogs and metadata tables, with the tables linked to a timeline, to support its infringement theory. (Compl. ¶13).

’733 Patent Infringement Allegations

| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 6) | Alleged Infringing Functionality - |:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
| a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; - | The accused instrumentalities are described as computer programs operating on a computer, which necessarily includes processors and memory. - | ¶13 | col. 2:58-62 |
| a mapping module coupled to the memory, the mapping module including a data store configurable to collect one or more images of a predetermined area on a map, - | The accused system allegedly has a mapping module that correlates image information with map data and a data store that collects images for a given area when associated location data is collected. | ¶13 | col. 6:31-41 |
| the data store configurable to store the one or more images as a function of a time line, a location or an image history parameter; - | The "mapillary server" allegedly stores images as a function of the timeline, location, and an image history parameter. - | ¶13 | col. 6:5-16 |
| and the data store configurable to store a table, the table configurable to associate metadata for the one or more images with one or more of: the time line, the image history parameter and the location, the association to enable an instantiation of a time-related image from the one or more images at the location on the map. | The accused system allegedly organizes images based on map data and uses a data store with a table to associate image metadata with time and location, enabling the display of a time-related image for a given location. | ¶13 | col. 2:50-58 |

• Identified Points of Contention:
  • Scope Questions: The claim recites a "computer system" with a "mapping module." The complaint alleges the accused instrumentality includes a "mapillary server." This raises the question of whether the claimed "computer system" can be read to cover a distributed client-server architecture, or if it implies a more self-contained system as depicted in the patent's figures.
  • Technical Questions: The complaint alleges infringement by mirroring the claim language but provides no specific details on the technical implementation of the Mapillary system. A central question will be whether Mapillary's data architecture uses a "table" to "associate metadata" in the manner required by the claim, or if it employs a different data structure (e.g., a non-relational database) that may not be structurally equivalent.

V. Key Claim Terms for Construction

The Term: "mapping module"

• Context and Importance: This term defines the central software component of the claimed invention. The outcome of the case may depend on whether the potentially distributed nature of the accused Mapillary system (e.g., a user application communicating with a remote server) can be considered a single "mapping module." Practitioners may focus on this term to dispute whether the claim reads on modern cloud-based architectures.
• Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The patent describes the "mapping module" in functional terms as a "configurable module" capable of being coupled to a processor and memory, without limiting its specific implementation (’733 Patent, col. 6:26-29).
• Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The patent’s primary embodiment in Figure 1 depicts the "MODULES INCL KEY FRAME MODULE 36" as residing within the system memory of a single computer 10, which could support an argument that the term implies a component on a single, self-contained device (’733 Patent, Fig. 1).

The Term: "table"

• Context and Importance: The infringement question hinges on whether the accused system's method for storing and linking data constitutes a "table" as claimed. This term is critical for determining if there is a literal match between the claimed data structure and the accused system's implementation.
• Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The specification suggests the term may not be limiting, referring to "tables, files, fields, columns and other method of organizing data," which could be interpreted as "table" being exemplary of any organized data structure (’733 Patent, col. 6:1-3).
• Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: Claim 6 requires a "data store configurable to store a table," and Figure 3 explicitly depicts a block labeled "TABLE INCLUDING METADATA" (314) as a component of the "DATA STORE" (312). This could support an argument that a specific table structure, as distinct from other data organization methods, is required.

VI. Other Allegations

• Indirect Infringement: The complaint's factual allegations and its single count for relief are focused exclusively on direct infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a) (Compl. ¶¶12-13). While the prayer for relief includes language regarding inducement, no supporting factual allegations are made.
• Willful Infringement: The complaint does not allege willful infringement.

VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case

• A core issue will be one of architectural scope: Can the claim term "computer system," which the patent illustrates as a single device, be construed to cover the accused Mapillary service, which is likely a distributed system comprising user devices and remote servers?
• A key question will be one of structural correspondence: Do the data structures used by the accused Mapillary system meet the specific "data store configurable to store a table" limitation of Claim 6, or is there a fundamental mismatch in the technical implementation that would require the plaintiff to rely on the doctrine of equivalents?
• Finally, the case presents an evidentiary challenge: The complaint's allegations track the patent's claim language closely without detailing how the accused system actually functions. The viability of the infringement claim will therefore depend on whether facts uncovered during discovery reveal an internal architecture at Mapillary that aligns with the specific elements of the asserted claim.