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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION
GILDERSLEEVE HOLDINGS AG, LLC,
Plaintiff, Civil Action File v. No. 1:11-cv-00472-JOF AMAZON.COM, INC., CARMAX BUSINESS SERVICES, LLC, DICE HOLDINGS, INC., DICK’S SPORTING GOODS, INC., INDEED, INC., NEWEGG, INC., PUBLIX SUPER MARKETS, INC., JURY TRIAL DEMANDED and SIMPLY HIRED, INC.,
Defendants.
PLAINTIFF’S FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
Pursuant to Rule 15(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
Plaintiff Gildersleeve Holdings AG LLC (“Plaintiff”), by and through its undersigned counsel, files this First Amended Complaint against Amazon.com,
Inc., Carmax Business Services, LLC, Dice Holdings, Inc., Dick’s Sporting Goods,
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Inc., Indeed, Inc., Newegg, Inc., Publix Super Markets, Inc., and Simply Hired,
Inc. (collectively “Defendants”) 1 as follows:
NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. This is a patent infringement action arising from Defendants’ infringement of Plaintiff’s United States Patent No. 7,000,183 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Viewer-Specific Presentation of Information” (“ the ’183 patent”; a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A). Plaintiff is the exclusive licensee of the ’183 patent with respect to the Defendants. Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief and monetary damages.
PARTIES
2. Plaintiff is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware. Plaintiff maintains its principal place of business at 1224 Mill Street, Building B, Suite 212, East Berlin, Connecticut
06023. Plaintiff is the exclusive licensee of the ’183 patent with respect to the
1 Plaintiff’s claims against former Defendants OpenTable, Inc., TigerDirect, Inc., and Monster Worldwide, Inc., have been settled, and those former Defendants have been dismissed from this action [see Documents 4, 15, and 25]. As a result, they are not included in this First Amended Complaint.
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Defendants, and possesses the right to sue for infringement and recover past damages.
3. Upon information and belief, Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 1200 12 th Avenue South, Suite 1200,
Seattle, Washington 98144.
4. Upon information and belief, Carmax Business Services, LLC.
(“Carmax”) is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 12800
Tuckahoe Creek Parkway, Richmond, Virginia 23238.
5. Upon information and belief, Dice Holdings, Inc. (“Dice”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 4101 NW Urbandale Drive, Urbandale,
Iowa 50322.
6. Upon information and belief, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (“DSG”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 345 Court Street, Coraopolis,
Pennsylvania 15108.
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7. Upon information and belief, Indeed, Inc. (“Indeed”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 177 Broad Street, 6 th Floor, Stamford, Connecticut
06901.
8. Upon information and belief, Newegg, Inc. (“Newegg”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 16839 East Gale Avenue, City of Industry,
California 91745.
9. Upon information and belief, Publix Super Market, Inc. (“Publix”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Florida, with its principal place of business located at 3300 Publix Corporate Parkway, Lakeland,
Florida 33811.
10. Upon information and belief, Simply Hired, Inc. (“Simply Hired”) is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business located at 2513 Charleston Road, Suite 200,
Mountain View, California 94043.
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JURISDICTION AND VENUE
11. This action arises under the Patent Laws of the United States, 35
U.S.C. § 1 et seq. , including 35 U.S.C. §§ 271, 281, 283, 284, and 285. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this case for patent infringement under 28
U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a).
12. The Court has personal jurisdiction over each Defendant because: each Defendant has minimum contacts within the State of Georgia and the
Northern District of Georgia; each Defendant has purposefully availed itself of the privileges of conducting business in the State of Georgia and in the Northern
District of Georgia; each Defendant has sought protection and benefit from the laws of the State of Georgia; each Defendant regularly conducts business within the State of Georgia and within the Northern District of Georgia; and/or Plaintiff’s causes of action arise directly from Defendants’ business contacts and other activities in the State of Georgia and in the Northern District of Georgia.
13. More specifically, each Defendant, directly and/or through intermediaries, ships, distributes, offers for sale, sells, and/or advertises (including the provision of an interactive web page) its products and services in the United
States, the State of Georgia, and the Northern District of Georgia. Upon information and belief, each Defendant has committed patent infringement in the
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State of Georgia and in the Northern District of Georgia. Each Defendant solicits customers in the State of Georgia and in the Northern District of Georgia. Each
Defendant has many paying customers who are residents of the State of Georgia and the Northern District of Georgia and who each use respective Defendant’s products and services in the State of Georgia and in the Northern District of
Georgia.
14. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Georgia pursuant to 28
U.S.C. §§ 1391 and 1400(b).
COUNT I – PATENT INFRINGEMENT
15. The ’183 patent was duly and legally issued by the United States
Patent and Trademark Office on September 5, 2000 after full and fair examination.
Plaintiff is the exclusive licensee of the ’183 patent with respect to the Defendants, and possesses all rights of recovery under the ’183 patent with respect to the
Defendants, including the right to sue for infringement and recover past damages.
16. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Amazon has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and
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methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the websites http://www.amazon.com, http://www.imdb.com, http://www.zappos.com, http://www.fabric.com; http://www.endless.com; and http://www.audible.com.
More specifically, Amazon’s amazon.com website presents viewer specific information to users based on previous rating, viewing, searching and/or purchasing activity including, but not limited to, the “recommendations for you” and “ustomers who viewed this also viewed” lists from Amazon’s amazon.com website. Amazon’s imdb.com website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s movie or person entry viewing activity including, but not limited to, the “Related Videos”, “Related News”, “Related Lists” and
“Recommendations” lists from Amazon’s imdb.com website. Amazon’s
Zappos.com website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s viewing activity including, but not limited to, the “recommendations” list of the home page and recommendations page, and the “also bought” and “Customers who viewed this item also viewed” lists from Amazon’s Zappos.com website.
Amazon’s Fabric.com website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s viewing activity including, but not limited to, the “you may like” list from Amazon’s Fabric.com website. Amazon’s Endless.com website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s viewing or saved search
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activity including, but not limited to, the “you might also like” list and “favorite search” feature from Amazon’s endless.com website. Amazon’s Audible.com website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s viewing activity including, but not limited to, the “you might also like” list from Amazon’s audible.com website.
17. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Carmax has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website http://www.carmax.com. More specifically, the Carmax website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s previously entered location and saved search activity including, but not limited to, updated search results from the saved searches and location.
18. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Dice has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website
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http://www.dice.com. More specifically, the Dice website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s previously entered location and saved search activity including, but not limited to, updated search results from the saved searches and location.
19. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
DSG has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website http://www.dickssportinggoods.com. More specifically, the DSG website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s previously entered location or local store including, but not limited to updated weekly advertisements and specials available for previously entered or saved store locations.
20. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Indeed has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website http://www.indeed.com. More specifically, the Indeed website presents viewer
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specific information to users based on a user’s previously entered search activity including, but not limited to, updated search results from previous searches or new results of a search since the user’s last visit to the website.
21. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Newegg has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website http://www.newegg.com. More specifically, Newegg’s website presents viewer specific information to users based on previous viewing, searching and/or purchasing activity including, but not limited to, the “Top Seller for You” list from the Newegg website, which presents items based on and related to items previously saved to a user’s wish list.
22. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Publix has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website http://www.publix.com. More specifically, the Publix website presents viewer
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specific information to users based on a user’s previously entered location or local store including, but not limited to, updated weekly advertisements and specials available for previously entered or saved store locations.
23. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a),
Simply Hired has infringed and continues to infringe at least Claim 1 of the ’183 patent by making, using, providing, offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the United States, systems and methods for viewer-specific presentation of information, including via the website http://www.simplyhired.com. More specifically, the Simply Hired website presents viewer specific information to users based on a user’s previously entered search activity including, but not limited to, updated search results from previous searches or new results of a search since the user’s last visit to the website.
24. To the extent such notice may be required, each Defendant received actual notice of its infringement of the ’183 patent at least as early as the filing of the original complaint in this action, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 287(a).
25. Each Defendant’s aforesaid activities have been without authority and/or license from Plaintiff.
26. Plaintiff is entitled to recover from the Defendants the damages sustained by Plaintiff as a result of the Defendants’ wrongful acts in an amount
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subject to proof at trial, which, by law, cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interest and costs as fixed by this Court under 35 U.S.C. § 284.
27. Defendants’ infringement of Plaintiff’s exclusive rights under the ’183 patent will continue to damage Plaintiff, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law, unless enjoined by this Court.
JURY DEMAND
28. Plaintiff hereby requests a trial by jury pursuant to Rule 38 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court find in its favor and against
Defendants, and that the Court grant Plaintiff the following relief:
A. An adjudication that one or more claims of the ’183 patent have been
infringed, either literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents, by
one or more Defendants;
B. An accounting and an award to Plaintiff of damages adequate to
compensate Plaintiff for the Defendants’ acts of infringement together
with pre-judgment and post-judgment interest;
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C. A grant of permanent injunction pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 283,
enjoining the Defendants from further acts of infringement with
respect to the claims of the ’183 patent;
D. That this Court declare this to be an exceptional case and award
Plaintiff its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in accordance with 35
U.S.C. §285; and
E. Any further relief that this Court deems just and proper.
Respectfully submitted, this 31 st day of May, 2011.
KENT LAW, P.C.
s/ Daniel A. Kent Daniel A. Kent Georgia Bar Number 415110 555 N Point Ctr E Ste 400 Alpharetta, GA 30022 [email protected] Tel: (404) 585-4214 Fax: (404) 829-2412
Attorney for Plaintiff
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the
Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send a Notice of Electronic Filing to all counsel of record.
This 31 st day of May, 2011.
KENT LAW, P.C.
s/ Daniel A. Kent Daniel A. Kent Georgia Bar Number 415110 555 N Point Ctr E Ste 400 Alpharetta, GA 30022 [email protected] Tel: (404) 585-4214 Fax: (404) 829-2412
Attorney for Plaintiff
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