DCT
6:23-cv-00663
Recog IP LLC v. Victoria's Secret & Co
Key Events
Complaint
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: Recog IP LLC (Texas)
- Defendant: Victoria's Secret & Co. (Delaware)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Direction IP Law
- Case Identification: [Recog IP LLC](https://ai-lab.exparte.com/party/recog-ip-llc) v. Victoria's Secret & Co, 6:23-cv-00663, W.D. Tex., 09/11/2023
- Venue Allegations: Plaintiff alleges venue is proper because Defendant has committed alleged acts of infringement in the district and maintains a regular and established place of business, specifically a retail store, 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 presentation of a user’s browsing history to help them re-locate previously viewed pages.
- Technical Context: The technology at issue pertains to e-commerce website features, such as "recently viewed items," designed to enhance user navigation by tracking and re-displaying products visited during a browsing session.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint does not mention any prior litigation, Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings, or licensing history related to the patent-in-suit.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2001-03-30 | '062 Patent Priority Date |
| 2007-11-13 | '062 Patent Issue Date |
| 2023-09-11 | Complaint Filing Date |
II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis
- Patent Identification: 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 the difficulty for internet users to find and return to a specific webpage they had previously visited, particularly when that page was reached through a series of hyperlinks and is not easily accessible via the browser's "back" button or history list ('062 Patent, col. 2:12-28; Compl. ¶9).
- The Patented Solution: The invention describes a server-side method that addresses this problem. When a user visits an information vendor's website, the server registers the user (e.g., via a cookie) and also registers the information pages the user calls. The server can then "only temporarily" generate a displayable presentation, such as a graphical map or list, that shows the "sequence" of pages the user visited. This presentation allows the user to easily recognize and navigate back to a desired page. The presentation and associated data are deleted from the server when the user ends the session, conserving server resources ('062 Patent, Abstract; col. 4:32-38; col. 6:35-40).
- Technical Importance: The described method offered a more integrated and user-friendly navigation aid within the website itself, rather than relying on the generic and often limited history functions of a standard web browser ('062 Patent, col. 2:43-54).
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts independent claim 1 (Compl. ¶13).
- The essential elements of independent claim 1 are:
- 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 for the user's computer that visually identifies a sequence of the information pages called by the user.
- Deleting the presentation from the vendor server, with no storage of the presentation or the information pages, when the user exits the information session.
- The complaint does not explicitly reserve the right to assert dependent claims.
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
The accused instrumentality is the website of Defendant Victoria's Secret & Co., available at victoriassecret.com (Compl. ¶13).
Functionality and Market Context
The complaint focuses on a specific feature of the website: the "Pick Up Where You Left Off" dialog box (Compl. ¶15). This feature is alleged to appear after a user has viewed at least one product page and then navigates to another page (Compl. p. 4, Figure 2). The complaint alleges this dialog box displays previously viewed products and contains links to their respective product pages, functionality purportedly enabled by cookies that track user activity (Compl. ¶¶14-15; p. 5, Figure 3). The complaint alleges that the contents of this dialog box are temporary, as they are not shown if a user clears their cookies or browses in incognito mode, suggesting the data is tied to a specific browsing session (Compl. ¶16; p. 6, Figure 4). Figure 2 in the complaint shows the "Pick Up Where You Left Off" dialog box appearing after a user has viewed multiple items. (Compl. p. 4, Figure 2).
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 allows users to visit the site and "register on the vendor server via cookies." | ¶14 | col. 4:32-38 |
| at said vendor server registering information pages of said information vendor called by said user directly and indirectly proceeding from said home page; | Defendant’s website "temporarily stores the visited information product pages on a server" and uses a "Pick Up Where You Left Off Cookie" to track these pages. | ¶15 | col. 4:65-5:1 |
| 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, | The "Pick Up Where You Left Off" dialog box is a temporary presentation that shows product pages viewed by the user. The complaint includes a screenshot showing this feature with links to previously viewed items. | ¶16; p. 7, Figure 5 | col. 6:30-35 |
| 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 product pages shown in the dialog box are alleged to be temporary because they no longer appear if a user browses in incognito mode or clears cookies, and the box itself does not appear until a second product page is visited. | ¶16; p. 6, Figure 4 | col. 6:35-40 |
- Identified Points of Contention:
- Scope Questions: A central question may be whether the accused "Pick Up Where You Left Off" feature, which appears to present a list of viewed items, meets the claim limitation of visually identifying a "sequence" of pages. The patent's figures and description may suggest a chronological path or ordered sequence, raising the issue of whether an unordered list of items falls within the claim's scope.
- Technical Questions: The claim requires specific server-side actions: "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage." The complaint supports this element by observing client-side behavior (i.e., clearing cookies removes the display). This raises an evidentiary question as to what proof Plaintiff can offer that the deletion and "no storage" actually occur at the vendor server as required by the claim, rather than merely becoming inaccessible on the client side.
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "sequence"
- Context and Importance: This term is critical because the accused feature is a list of "recently viewed" items, which may not be ordered chronologically. The infringement analysis will depend on whether an unordered collection of visited pages constitutes a "sequence." Practitioners may focus on this term because the patent's examples seem to illustrate an ordered, step-by-step user path.
- Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The patent does not provide an explicit definition of "sequence," which could support an argument that it simply means a set of related pages visited by the user, without a strict temporal ordering requirement.
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The specification repeatedly refers to a user's "path when surfing" ('062 Patent, col. 2:31-32). Furthermore, Figure 3 uses numbers and arrows to depict a distinct, ordered progression (e.g., step 1 → step 2 → step 3), which may support a construction requiring a chronological or ordered display ('062 Patent, Fig. 3).
The Term: "deleting said presentation from said vendor server, with no storage"
- Context and Importance: This negative limitation recites specific technical events that must occur on the defendant's server. Proving that something is affirmatively deleted and that there is "no storage" is a high evidentiary bar. The case may turn on whether Plaintiff’s evidence, based on client-side cookie behavior, is sufficient to infer these specific server-side actions.
- Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: A party might argue that "no storage" means no permanent, long-term archival, while still permitting transient caching necessary for the feature to function during a session.
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The plain language of the claim is restrictive, requiring both "deleting" and "no storage." This suggests a complete removal of the data from the server after the session. The patent emphasizes this temporary nature to "reduce the memory outlay of data for the service" ('062 Patent, col. 2:56-60), which could support a strict interpretation that the data must be fully purged from the server.
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges induced infringement, stating that Defendant intended its customers to use its website in an infringing manner by providing access to, and instructions for, the site's functionality (Compl. ¶17).
- Willful Infringement: Willfulness is alleged based on Defendant's knowledge of the '062 patent "since at least the filing of the Complaint" (Compl. ¶17). No pre-suit knowledge is alleged.
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 specification illustrates with ordered, step-by-step navigational paths, be construed to cover the accused "Pick Up Where You Left Off" feature, which appears to function as an unordered list of recently viewed products?
- A key evidentiary question will be one of server-side proof: what evidence can the Plaintiff provide to demonstrate that Defendant’s system performs the specific server-side actions of "deleting" the presentation with "no storage" when a user session ends, as required by the claim, given that the complaint’s allegations are based on observations of client-side behavior?