Another patent troll targets OEMs
January 10, 2018
Xerox and Ricoh are both being taken to court for patent infringement by the Midwest Athletics and Sports Alliance LLC (MASA).
Following on from our report on the patent lawsuit handed to Xerox by MASA in December 2017, The Recycler has now viewed court papers relating both to that court case and to the patent infringement complaint brought by MASA against Ricoh.
The papers describe MASA as a “wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Youth A&S Inc.” and explain that it provides services, funding and equipment for youth sports organisations “to help those organisations inspire youths in a positive way”. It also “promotes the value and importance of sports and physical activity in the development of children.” MASA describes its ultimate purpose as to “see that every child has the ultimate sports experience and learns key life lessons that will be instrumental for them now and in the future.”
The complaint MASA is bringing against Xerox and Ricoh “arises under the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.” The papers state that both OEMS have “committed acts of patent infringement in Nebraska, and throughout the United States” because each company “makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, and/or imports in Nebraska the Accused Products”.
These products infringe the following United States Patents belonging to MASA: 6,203,005, 6,305,684,6,411,314, 6,462,756, 6,509,974, 6,554,269, 6,718,285, 6,724,998, 6,799,005, 6,993,278, 7,502,582, 7,658,375, 7,720,425, 8,005,415, 8,019,255, 8,220,795, 8,554,089, 8,591,022, and 8,805,239 (collectively referred to as the “MASA Patents”).
The court papers allege that Ricoh’s Aficio MP printers (e.g., MP4002/4002SP/5002/5002SP, Ricoh MP 2555/3055/3555/4055/5055/6055 and C2030, C2050,C2530, C2550) use one or more of the MASA Patents.
They also allege that various models of the Aficio SP printers (e.g., Ricoh Aficio SP C830DN, C831DN) use one or more of the MASA Patents, as well as Ricoh’s Pro printers (e.g., Ricoh Pro C7100/C7100x/C7110/C7110x), Ricoh’s TotalFlow® suite of software programs (e.g., TotalFlow Prep, TotalFlow Production Manager, and TotalFlow Print Server) (collectively “TotalFlow”), Ricoh’s ProcessDirector and Ricoh’s Ricoh Preventative Maintenance (PM) and Trained Customer Replacement Units (TCRU).
Meanwhile, the court papers pertaining to the Xerox complaint allege that the OEM’s WorkCentre printers (e.g., WorkCentre 5335, 5330, 5325) use one or more of the MASA Patents, as do various models of Versalink printer (e.g., B400, C400), Phaser printer (e.g., Phaser 5500, 5550, 6500, 6505, 6510, 7500, and 7800), iGen printers (e.g., iGen 5), Brenva printers (e.g., Brenva HD Production Inkjet Press) , ColorQube printers (e.g., ColorQube 9201, 9202, 9203), Color devices(e.g., Xerox Color 800i/1000) and Xerox’s FreeFlow® suite of software uses.
In both cases, MASA is seeking “judgment and relief” including, in the case of Xerox, “An entry of judgment holding Defendant has infringed and is infringing United States Patent Nos. 6,203,005, 6,305,684, 6,411,314, 6,462,756, 6,509,974, 6,718,285, 6,724,998, 6,799,005, 6,909,856, 6,993,278, 7,502,582, 7,658,375, 7,720,425, 8,005,415, 8,019,255, 8,220,795, 8,554,089, 8,591,022, 8,634,113, and 8,805,239,” and in the case of Ricoh “An entry of judgment holding Defendant has infringed and is infringing United States Patent Nos. 6,203,005, 6,305,684, 6,411,314, 6,462,756, 6,509,974, 6,554,269, 6,718,285, 6,724,998, 6,799,005, 6,993,278, 7,502,582, 7,658,375, 7,720,425, 8,005,415, 8,019,255, 8,220,795, 8,554,089, 8,591,022, and 8,805,239”.
In addition, MASA seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against the OEMs, as well as “An award to MASA of such damages as it shall prove at trial against Defendant that are adequate to fully compensate MASA for Defendant’s infringement” of MASA’s patents, an award of costs and “reasonable attorney’s fees”, an “accounting of all infringing sales and revenues” and “such further and other relief as the Court may deem proper”.
In both cases, MASA demands a jury trial.
Categories : Around the Industry
Tags : MASA Patent infringement Patent troll Ricoh USA Xerox
