DCT
6:22-cv-01261
Recog IP LLC v. Gap Inc
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: Recog IP LLC (Texas)
- Defendant: The GAP, Inc. (Delaware)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Direction IP Law
- Case Identification: 6:22-cv-01261, W.D. Tex., 12/07/2022
- Venue Allegations: Venue is alleged to be proper in the Western District of Texas because Defendant operates retail stores, constituting a regular and established place of business in the district, and has allegedly committed acts of infringement within the district.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s e-commerce website infringes a patent related to a method for generating a temporary, visual presentation of a user's browsing history within that website.
- Technical Context: The technology at issue addresses methods for tracking a user's path through a website and presenting that history to facilitate returning to previously viewed pages, a common feature in modern e-commerce.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint asserts that Plaintiff is the current assignee of the patent-in-suit, which claims priority to a German patent application filed in 2001. No other significant procedural events are mentioned in the complaint.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2001-03-30 | ’062 Patent Priority Date |
| 2007-11-13 | ’062 Patent Issue Date |
| 2022-12-07 | Complaint Filing Date |
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 describes the problem that internet users often have difficulty re-locating a specific webpage they have previously visited within a vendor's site, noting that standard browser "back" buttons and history lists offer only "limited possibilities" for this task (’062 Patent, col. 2:21-23).
- The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a server-side method to solve this problem. The vendor server first registers the user (e.g., via a cookie) and then registers the information pages the user calls during their session. Upon request, the server "only temporarily" generates a displayable presentation, such as a visual map, showing the sequence of pages the user visited. This allows the user to easily recognize and navigate back to a desired page. The presentation is then deleted from the server when the user ends their session (’062 Patent, Abstract; col. 5:29-44).
- Technical Importance: The technology aimed to provide a more intuitive, session-specific navigation aid than a browser's generic history, by creating a visual representation of a user's journey through a specific vendor's website (’062 Patent, col. 2:9-17).
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts direct and indirect infringement of at least independent claim 1 (Compl. ¶13, ¶17).
- The essential elements of independent claim 1 are:
- A user calling a home page from an information vendor, which results in "registering said user at said vendor server."
- The vendor server "registering information pages" that the user calls directly or indirectly from the home page.
- The vendor server "only temporarily generating a displayable presentation" for the user that "visually identifies a sequence" of the pages the user called.
- "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."
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
- The accused instrumentality is the method performed by Defendant's website, www.gap.com (Compl. ¶13).
Functionality and Market Context
- The complaint alleges that the website implements the patented method through a feature, identified in screenshots as the "We Know You'll Love These" section, which displays products the user has recently viewed (Compl. ¶13). A provided screenshot shows this section is empty when a user first arrives and no products have been viewed (Compl. p. 4, Fig. 1). After the user visits product pages, this section populates with images and links corresponding to those products (Compl. p. 5, Fig. 2). The complaint includes a screenshot of the website's code, described as showing that the "dialog box contain[s] links to their respective product pages" (Compl. p. 5, Fig. 3). The complaint alleges this functionality is temporary and is reset if a user clears their cookies or browses in incognito mode (Compl. ¶16).
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, ... registering said user at said vendor server; | Defendant’s website allows users to visit its home page and "register 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 pages are "at least temporarily stored ('registered') on the server(s)." The server is alleged to analyze a "Take Another Look Cookie" to build the presentation. | ¶15 | col. 5:5-8 |
| 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... | The "We Know You'll Love These" dialog box/section is alleged to be the temporary, displayable presentation. It is alleged to visually identify a sequence of the product pages called by the user. | ¶16 | col. 5:32-38 |
| 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... | The presentation is alleged to be temporary and deleted. The evidence cited is that products from a previous session are no longer shown in the "We Know You'll Love These" section when browsing in incognito mode or after clearing cookies. | ¶16 | col. 5:38-44 |
- Identified Points of Contention:
- Scope Questions: A question may arise as to whether the accused "We Know You'll Love These" 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 figures and description suggest a navigational path or a hierarchical map, raising the question of whether a simple collection of items constitutes a "sequence" in the claimed sense.
- Technical Questions: The complaint alleges that the presentation is deleted "from the vendor server, with no storage." The evidence provided is that the feature is cleared on the user's computer after cookies are deleted (Compl. ¶16). This raises an evidentiary question as to whether this user-side observation proves that the underlying browsing data is actually deleted from the defendant's server, or merely that the link between the user's browser and the server-side data has been severed while the data itself is retained for other purposes.
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "sequence of said information pages"
- Context and Importance: The construction of this term appears central to infringement. The dispute may turn on whether a collection of links to previously visited product pages, as shown in the accused feature, can be considered a "sequence," or if the term requires a more structured, path-like representation as depicted in the patent's own figures.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The claim itself does not define the structure of the "sequence." The specification states the sequence can be identified "with arrows" or "with numbers," but does not explicitly limit it to those graphical methods, potentially leaving room for other ordered representations (’062 Patent, col. 5:46-50).
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The patent's figures depict a graphical, map-like layout with numbered steps showing the user's navigational path from a home page to various branches (’062 Patent, Fig. 3). The specification also refers to enabling a user to "unproblematically track his or her route," which may suggest a path rather than just a list of destinations (’062 Patent, col. 5:57-59).
The Term: "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage"
- Context and Importance: This negative limitation is critical, as modern e-commerce systems often retain user browsing data for analytics and personalization. The infringement analysis will likely focus on whether the accused system truly deletes all relevant data from the server at the end of a session.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: A party could argue that the "presentation" is the specific temporary compilation of data generated for that user's session, and that this compilation is "deleted" even if the raw data elements (e.g., product IDs) are retained elsewhere in a different format for different purposes.
- Intrinsic Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: A party could argue the claim requires the complete removal of the information pages from the server. The patent's stated goal of reducing "memory outlay" for the service by making the presentation temporary could support a stricter reading that prohibits any form of retention of the session's page-visit data on the server after the user exits (’062 Patent, col. 2:56-62).
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges induced infringement, asserting that GAP intended for its customers to use its website in an infringing manner by providing "access to support for, training and instructions for, its website" (Compl. ¶17).
- Willful Infringement: The complaint does not contain an explicit allegation of willful infringement or pre-suit knowledge of the ’062 Patent. However, it requests a declaration that the case is "exceptional" and an award of attorneys' fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285, which can be predicated on a finding of willful infringement (Compl. p. 9, ¶D).
VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
- A core issue will be one of definitional scope: can the term "sequence," which is described and depicted in the patent as a navigational route, be construed to cover the gallery-style "recently viewed items" feature in the accused website?
- A key evidentiary question will be one of technical proof: can the plaintiff demonstrate that the accused system meets the negative limitation of "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage," when the complaint's primary evidence is the disappearance of the feature from the user's browser, a fact that does not necessarily prove data deletion on the server itself?