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Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 1 of 8 PageID #: 1
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`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
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`APERTURE NET LLC,
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`C.A. No. ___________________
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`DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`)))))))))
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`Plaintiff,
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`v.
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`SONY MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
`(USA) INC., SONY MOBILE
`COMMUNICATIONS INC. and SONY
`CORPORATION,
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`Defendants.
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`Figure 1 – Sony’s Xperia X product
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`
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`1
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 2 of 8 PageID #: 2
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`ORIGINAL COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
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`1.
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`Aperture Net LLC (“Aperture” or “Plaintiff”), by and through its counsel, hereby
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`brings this action for patent infringement against Sony Mobile Communications (USA) Inc.,
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`Sony Mobile Communications, Inc., and Sony Corporation, (collectively, the “Defendants”)
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`alleging infringement of the following validly issued patent (the “Patent-in-Suit”): U.S. Patent
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`No. 6,711,204, titled “Channel Sounding for a Spread-Spectrum Signal” (the ’204 Patent),
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`attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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`NATURE OF THE ACTION
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`2.
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`This is an action for patent infringement arising under the United States Patent
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`Act 35 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq., including 35 U.S.C. § 271.
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`PARTIES
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`3.
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` Plaintiff Aperture Net LLC is a company established in Texas with its principal
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`place of business at 6205 Coit Rd., Ste 300 – 1016, Plano, TX 75024-5474.
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`4.
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`On information and belief, Defendant Sony Mobile Communications (USA) Inc.
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`is a company incorporated in Delaware and may be served by its registered agent Capitol
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`Services, Inc. 1675 S. State Street, Ste. B, Dover, Delaware, 19901.
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`5.
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`On information and belief, Defendant Sony Mobile Communications, Inc. is a
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`company established in Japan with a principle place of business at Shinagawa Seaside TS Tower,
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`4-12-3, Higashi-shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 140-0002, Japan.
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`6.
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`On information and belief, Defendant Sony Corporation is a company established
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`in Japan with a principle place of business at 1-7-1 Konan Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075 Japan.
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`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
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`7.
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`This lawsuit is a civil action for patent infringement arising under the patent laws
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 3 of 8 PageID #: 3
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`of the United States, 35 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. The Court has subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant
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`to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332, 1338(a), and 1367.
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`8.
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`The Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants for the following reasons: (1)
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`Defendants are present within or has minimum contacts within the State of Delaware and the
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`District of Delaware; (2) Defendants have purposefully availed itself of the privileges of
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`conducting business in the State of Delaware and in this district; (3) Defendants have sought
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`protection and benefit from the laws of the State of Delaware; (4) Defendants regularly conduct
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`business within the State of Delaware and within this district, and Plaintiff’s cause of action
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`arises directly from Defendants’ business contacts and other activities in the State of Delaware
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`and in this district; and (5) Defendants have a regular and established business in Delaware and
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`has purposely availed itself of the privileges and benefits of the laws of the State of Delaware.
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`9.
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`Defendants, directly and/or through intermediaries, ship, distribute, use, offer for
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`sale, sell, and/or advertise products and services in the United States, the State of Delaware, and
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`the District of Delaware including but not limited to the products which contain the infringing
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`’204 Patent systems and methods as detailed below. Upon information and belief, Defendants
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`have committed patent infringement in the State of Delaware and in this district; Defendants
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`solicit and have solicited customers in the State of Delaware and in this district; and Defendants
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`have paying customers who are residents of the State of Delaware and this district and who each
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`use and have used the Defendants’ products and services in the State of Delaware and in this
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`district.
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`10. Venue is proper in the District of Delaware pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1400(b).
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`Defendants have a regular and established place of business in this district, have transacted
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`business in this district, and have directly and/or indirectly committed acts of patent infringement
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 4 of 8 PageID #: 4
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`in this district.
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`PATENT-IN-SUIT
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`11.
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`The Patent-in-Suit teaches systems and methods for improving a spread-spectrum
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`code-division-multiple-access (“CDMA”) system, using a channel sounding signal from a base
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`station to provide initial transmitter power levels for remote stations.
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`12.
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`The invention disclosed in the Patent-in-Suit discloses inventive concepts that
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`represent significant improvements in the art and are not mere routine or conventional uses of
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`computer components. For instance, at the time of filing, CDMA systems suffered from poor
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`power control. See Ex. A, ’204 Patent, 1:21–2:5. Although various approaches existed to address
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`power control issues, those approaches suffered from inconsistency, inefficiency, and excessive
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`delays. See Ex. A, ’204 Patent, 1:21–2:5. The patent-in-suit addressed these concerns by
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`“permit[ting] a remote power station to have knowledge, a priori to transmitting, of a proper
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`power level to initiate transmission.” See Ex. A, ’204 Patent, 2:7-10. Further, the patent-in-suit
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`teaches “to measure and initially correct or compensate for Doppler shift in carrier frequency
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`caused by the motion of the remote station.” See Ex. A, ’204 Patent, 2:11-13.
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`ACCUSED PRODUCTS
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`13. Defendants make, use, offer for sale and sell in the U.S. products, systems, and/or
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`services that infringe the Patent-in-Suit, including, but not limited to its Xperia X product (the
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`“Accused Products” or “Accused Instrumentality”).
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`COUNT I
`(Infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,711,204)
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`14.
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`Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations of paragraphs 1-13, the same as
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`if set forth herein.
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`4
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 5 of 8 PageID #: 5
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`15.
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`The ’204 Patent is valid, enforceable, and was duly and legally issued by the
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`United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) on March 23, 2004. The ’204 Patent is
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`presumed valid and enforceable. See 35 U.S.C. § 282.
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`16.
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`Plaintiff is the owner by assignment of the ’204 patent and possesses all rights of
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`recovery under the ’204 patent, including the exclusive right enforce the ’204 patent and pursue
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`lawsuits against infringers.
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`17. Without a license or permission from Plaintiff, Defendants have infringed and
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`continues to infringe on one or more claims of the ’204 Patent—directly, contributorily, and/or
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`by inducement—by importing, making, using, offering for sale, or selling products and devices
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`that embody the patented invention, including, without limitation, one or more of the patented
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`’204 systems and methods, in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271.
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`Direct Infringement
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`18. Defendants have been and now is directly infringing by, among other things,
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`practicing all of the steps of the ’204 Patent, for example, through internal testing, quality
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`assurance, research and development, and troubleshooting. See Joy Techs., Inc. v. Flakt, Inc., 6
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`F.3d 770, 775 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see also 35 U.S.C. § 271 (2006). For instance, Defendants have
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`directly infringed the Patent-in-Suit by testing, configuring, and troubleshooting the functionality
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`of its location technology.
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`19. By way of example, Defendants have infringed and continues to infringe at least
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`one or more claims of the ’204 Patent, including at least Claim 1. Attached hereto as Exhibit B is
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`an exemplary claim chart detailing representative infringement of claim 1 of the Patent-in-Suit.
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`Contributory Infringement
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`20. On information and belief, Defendants contributorily infringe on Plaintiff’s ’204
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 6 of 8 PageID #: 6
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`Patent. Defendants knew or should have known, at the very least as a result of its freedom to
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`operate analyses and the filing of this complaint, that third parties, such as its customers, would
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`infringe the ’204 Patent.
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`21. On
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`information and belief, Defendants’
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`implementation of
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`the accused
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`functionality has no substantial non-infringing uses. See, e.g., Lucent Techs., Inc. v. Gateway,
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`Inc., 580 F.3d 1301, 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (holding that the “substantial non-infringing use”
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`element of a contributory infringement claim applies to an infringing feature or component, and
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`that an “infringing feature” of a product does not escape liability simply because the product as a
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`whole has other non-infringing uses).
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`Willful Infringement
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`22. On information and belief, the infringement of the ’204 Patent by Defendant has
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`been and continues to be willful. Defendants have had actual knowledge of Plaintiff’s rights in
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`the ’204 Patent and details of Defendants’ infringement based on at least the filing and service of
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`this complaint. Additionally, Defendants had knowledge of the ’204 Patent and its infringement
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`in the course of Defendants’ due diligence and freedom to operate analyses.
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`Plaintiff Suffered Damages
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`23. Defendants’ acts of infringement of the ’204 Patent have caused damage to
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`Plaintiff, and Plaintiff is entitled to recover from Defendants the damages sustained as a result of
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`Defendants’ wrongful acts in an amount subject to proof at trial pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271.
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`Defendants’ infringement of Plaintiff’s exclusive rights under the ’204 Patent will continue to
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`damage Plaintiff causing it irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law,
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`warranting an injunction from the Court.
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`REQUEST FOR RELIEF
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 7 of 8 PageID #: 7
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`24.
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`Plaintiff incorporates each of the allegations in the paragraphs above and
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`respectfully asks the Court to:
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`(a)
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`enter a judgment that Defendants have directly infringed, contributorily infringed,
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`and/or induced infringement of one or more claims of each of the ’204 Patent;
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`(b)
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`enter a judgment awarding Plaintiff all damages adequate to compensate it for
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`Defendants’ infringement of, direct or contributory, or inducement to infringe, the
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`including all pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the maximum rate permitted by
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`law;
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`(c)
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`enter a judgment awarding treble damages pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284 for
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`Defendants’ willful infringement of the ’204 Patent;
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`(d)
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`issue a preliminary injunction and thereafter a permanent injunction enjoining and
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`restraining Defendants, their directors, officers, agents, servants, employees, and those
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`acting in privity or in concert with them, and their subsidiaries, divisions, successors, and
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`assigns, from further acts of infringement, contributory infringement, or inducement of
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`infringement of the ’204 Patent;
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`(e)
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`enter a judgment requiring Defendants to pay the costs of this action, including all
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`disbursements, and attorneys’ fees as provided by 35 U.S.C. § 285, together with
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`prejudgment interest; and
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`(f)
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`award Plaintiff all other relief that the Court may deem just and proper.
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`Dated: September 30, 2019
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`Respectfully submitted,
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`/s/Stamatios Stamoulis
`Stamatios Stamoulis (#4606)
`Stamoulis & Weinblatt LLC
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`7
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`Case 1:19-cv-01840-RGA Document 1 Filed 09/30/19 Page 8 of 8 PageID #: 8
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`800 N. West Street, Third Floor
`Wilmington, DE 19801
`(302) 999-1540
`stamoulis@swdlaw.com
`
`Kirk. J. Anderson (CA SBN 289043)
`(Pro Hac Vice forthcoming)
`kanderson@budolaw.com
`BUDO LAW, P.C.
`5610 Ward Rd., Suite #300
`Arvada, CO 80002
`(720) 225-9440 (Phone)
`(720) 225-9331 (Fax)
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`Attorney(s) for Aperture Net LLC
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`8
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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