DCT
6:22-cv-01260
Recog IP LLC v. adidas America Inc
Key Events
Complaint
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: Recog IP LLC (Texas)
- Defendant: Adidas America, Inc. (Oregon)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Direction IP Law
- Case Identification: 6:22-cv-01260, W.D. Tex., 12/07/2022
- Venue Allegations: Venue is based on Defendant's alleged commission of infringing acts in the district and its operation of regular and established places of business, specifically retail stores, within the Western District of Texas.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s e-commerce website infringes a patent related to a method for generating a temporary, server-side presentation of a user's browsing history to help them re-locate previously viewed pages.
- Technical Context: The technology concerns user experience features on e-commerce websites, specifically the functionality that tracks and displays recently viewed products to a user during a browsing session.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint does not reference any prior litigation, Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings, or licensing history related to the patent-in-suit.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2001-03-30 | U.S. Patent No. 7,296,062 Priority Date (German Application) |
| 2007-11-13 | U.S. Patent No. 7,296,062 Issued |
| 2022-12-07 | Complaint Filed |
II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis
U.S. Patent No. 7,296,062 - "Method for Generating a Presentation for Re-locating an Information Page that has Already Been Called," issued November 13, 2007
The Invention Explained
- Problem Addressed: The patent's background section identifies a problem for internet users who, after extensive "surfing" on a vendor's website, find it difficult to re-locate a specific page of interest that was accessed through a series of hyperlinks, noting that standard browser "back" buttons and history lists offer only "limited possibilities" for this task (ʼ062 Patent, col. 2:13-25).
- The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a server-side method where the vendor's server registers a user (e.g., via a cookie) upon their arrival at the home page and then tracks the subsequent "information pages" they visit. The server can then generate a temporary, displayable presentation that visually shows the sequence of pages the user called, allowing the user to easily recognize and return to a desired page. This presentation is deleted from the server when the user's "information session" ends to conserve server resources (ʼ062 Patent, Abstract; col. 2:55-63).
- Technical Importance: This approach aimed to provide a more intuitive, session-specific navigation tool embedded within the vendor's site, rather than relying on generic browser functions, to enhance user experience and facilitate re-engagement with products or information seen earlier in a session (ʼ062 Patent, col. 2:10-17).
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts at least independent Claim 1 (Compl. ¶13).
- The essential elements of Claim 1 are:
- A method for re-locating a previously called information page on a network.
- Registering a user at a vendor server when the user calls a home page.
- At the vendor server, registering the information pages called by the user.
- At the vendor server, "only temporarily generating a displayable presentation" that "visually identifies a sequence" of the called pages.
- "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage of said presentation or said information pages at said vendor server, when said user exits an information session with said information vendor."
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
- The accused instrumentality is Defendant's website, adidas.com, and specifically its method for displaying recently viewed items (Compl. ¶13).
Functionality and Market Context
- The complaint alleges that when a user browses the Adidas website, the site's server tracks the product pages visited. After a user views a second product, a section titled "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" appears, displaying the products viewed during that session (Compl. ¶16; p. 4, Fig. 2). The complaint alleges that this functionality is driven by the server analyzing a "TALC ('Take Another Look Cookie')" to build the presentation of recently viewed products (Compl. ¶15). Figure 2 provides a screenshot of the accused website showing the "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" section appearing after a user has navigated to a second product page (Compl. p. 4).
IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations
’062 Patent Infringement Allegations
| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| when a user, via a user computer in communication with said vendor server, calls a home page, comprising home page contents, of an information vendor, registering said user at said vendor server; | Defendant’s website allegedly allows users to visit the home page, and the user is registered on the vendor server via cookies. | ¶14 | col. 4:32-39 |
| at said vendor server registering information pages of said information vendor called by said user directly and indirectly proceeding from said home page; | Visited product information pages are allegedly temporarily stored ("registered") on the server. The complaint alleges the server analyzes a "Take Another Look Cookie" to build the "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" section. | ¶15 | col. 4:65-col. 5:1 |
| at said vendor server only temporarily generating a displayable presentation, for display at said user computer which visually identifies a sequence of said information pages of said information vendor called by said user, and deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage of said presentation or said information pages at said vendor server, when said user exits an information session with said information vendor. | The "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" section is alleged to be the temporary presentation. Its temporary nature is allegedly shown by the fact that it disappears after clearing cookies or using incognito mode and is not shown until a second product is visited. Figure 3 presents a screenshot of a web developer inspection tool, which the complaint uses to show the underlying code and image links associated with the products displayed in the 'RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS' section (Compl. p. 5). | ¶16 | col. 6:1-5 |
- Identified Points of Contention:
- Scope Questions: A central question may be whether the accused "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" feature, which presents a gallery of previously viewed products, meets the claim limitation of a presentation that "visually identifies a sequence of said information pages." The patent's preferred embodiments depict a path with arrows and numbers, suggesting an ordered progression ('062 Patent, Fig. 3), which raises the question of whether a simple collection of items without explicit ordering or path indicators falls within the claim's scope.
- Technical Questions: The infringement analysis may turn on the claim requirement of "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage... when said user exits an information session." The complaint alleges this is satisfied because the presentation is removed from view on the user's computer (Compl. ¶16). However, this raises the factual question of whether Defendant's server architecture truly deletes the underlying browsing data or merely ceases to display it while retaining it for other purposes, such as analytics or marketing, which could create a mismatch with the claim language.
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "sequence of said information pages"
- Context and Importance: The construction of "sequence" is critical. If it is construed to require an explicit representation of the user's chronological path (e.g., with visual connectors or ordering), the accused gallery-style "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" feature may not infringe. If it is construed more broadly to mean the set of pages visited, infringement may be more plausible.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The claim language itself does not explicitly require graphical arrows or numbers. A party could argue that "sequence" simply refers to the set of pages called by the user during the session, which are inherently sequential in time.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The specification describes embodiments where "the sequence... can be graphically seen in the windows 80 and 81 with arrows" and can be "additionally identified by numbers" ('062 Patent, col. 5:20-25). Figure 3 of the patent explicitly shows a numbered, branching path. This may support a narrower construction that requires a visual depiction of the user's navigational path, not just a list of destinations.
The Term: "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage"
- Context and Importance: This term is key to the "temporary" nature of the patented method. The case may depend on whether Defendant's server operations meet this limitation. Practitioners may focus on this term because modern e-commerce platforms often retain user browsing data for analytics and personalization, which may conflict with a "no storage" requirement.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: A party might argue that this limitation only applies to the specific "presentation" file or data object, and that as long as that discrete object is deleted, the storage of the underlying page-view data in a separate database for other purposes does not violate the claim.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The claim language "with no storage of said presentation or said information pages at said vendor server" could be read to mandate the complete removal of any record of the visited pages from the server after the session. The specification reinforces this by describing the feature as a "temporarily generated bookmark that is deleted after the user has ended his information session" ('062 Patent, col. 6:2-5), suggesting a transient, non-persistent function.
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges induced infringement, stating that Defendant intends for its customers to use its website in an infringing manner by providing access to and instructions for the site, where the infringing method steps are performed jointly by the customer's actions and Defendant's server (Compl. ¶17).
- Willful Infringement: The complaint does not contain specific factual allegations supporting pre-suit knowledge or willfulness. However, the prayer for relief requests a declaration that the case is "exceptional" and an award of attorneys' fees under 35 U.S.C. §285 (Compl. p. 8).
VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
- A core issue will be one of definitional scope: can the term "sequence," which the patent illustrates with explicit, ordered navigational paths, be construed to cover the accused "RECENTLY VIEWED ITEMS" feature, which appears to function as a simple, unordered gallery of products?
- A key evidentiary question will be one of technical implementation: what evidence will discovery reveal about the operation of Defendant's servers? Specifically, does the server architecture satisfy the claim's requirement to delete the presentation and associated page information "with no storage" after a user session, or is user browsing data retained for other commercial purposes, creating a potential mismatch with the claim's temporary, non-persistent character?