Lyft Inc. took an affirmative stand in a complaint it filed on Wednesday, responding to litigation lodged by Agis Software Development LLC earlier this year alleging patent infringement. According to the Northern District of California filing, Lyft seeks a judicial declaration that its app and software do not infringe Agis’s technology.
In its January 2021 complaint, Agis alleged that Lyft infringed five patents that disclose and claim location-based technologies. The Eastern District of Texas case against Lyft is one of four related cases filed against T-Mobile, Uber, and WhatsApp.
According to Agis’s amended complaint filed in June in one of the member cases, its LifeRing product is a communication system that uses GPS-based location technology and cellular communication networks. Users can reportedly “exchange location, heading, speed, and other information with other members of a group, view each other’s locations on maps and satellite images, and rapidly communicate and coordinate their efforts.”
Agis accused Lyft of including certain functionalities from the patents in its app, which, for example “allow users to form and/or join networks or groups, share and view locations with other users, display symbols corresponding to locations (including locations of other users) on a map, and communicate with other users via text, voice, and multimedia-based communication.” According to Agis, Lyft’s app uses claims in the asserted patents to “improve rider and driver experiences and to improve Lyft’s position in the market.”
On April 27, Lyft moved to dismiss the Eastern District of Texas litigation for improper venue. That motion has been opposed and is now pending before the court. Therein, Lyft argued that it neither resides in the district nor maintains a place of business there.
In this week’s complaint, Lyft explained that “AGIS Software’s infringement allegations and related actions threaten actual and imminent injury to Lyft that can be redressed by judicial relief and warrants the issue of a declaratory judgment.” The plaintiff requested the aforementioned declaration, a jury trial, and its attorneys’ fees and costs.
Lyft is represented by Baker Botts L.L.P.