Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Fort Wayne, Indiana – An Indiana patent attorney for Agri-Labs Holdings LLC of Auburn, Indiana filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Northern District of Indiana alleging that TapLogic, LLC of Murray, Kentucky infringed its patented “Soil Sample Tracking System and Method.”
At issue in this Indiana patent litigation is U.S. Patent No. 8,286,857 (the “`857 Patent” or the “Patent-in-Suit”), to which Agri-Labs claims ownership. The patent-in-suit, which was issued based upon an application filed by inventor Tony Wayne Covely, has been registered by the U.S. Patent Office. The `857 Patent generally relates to a system and method for performing soil analysis that uses smart phones, applications for smart phones, soil containers having unique identifiers, and global positioning (“GPS”).
TapLogic is accused of selling and offering for sale in the United States its “Ag PhD Soil Test,” which Agri-Labs contends infringes the patent-in-suit. To implement its soil-testing system, TapLogic provides its customers with soil containers. Customers are instructed to manually pull soil samples from a field and place them in separate containers, each of which includes a unique identifier. TapLogic’s Ag PhD test obtains a GPS coordinate reading associated with a location in the field from where the soil sample is taken and associates the GPS coordinate reading with the soil container having the customer scan the barcode contained on the soil container.
In December 2014, Agri-Labs sent a letter to TapLogic “attempting to amicably resolve this matter.” Agri-Labs indicates that it received no meaningful reply from TapLogic in response to the letter.
In this Indiana patent infringement complaint, the patent lawyer for Agri-Labs asserts a single count: Infringement of the ‘857 Patent by TapLogic. Agri-Labs asks the court to adjudge that the ‘857 Patent has been infringed and to enjoin TapLogic and its agents from directly and/or indirectly infringing the patent. Agri-Labs also asks for an award of compensatory damages pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284, as well as enhanced damages under 35 U.S.C. § 285, and for an award of its costs.
The case was assigned to Judge Robert L. Miller Jr., and Magistrate Judge Susan L. Collins in the Northern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 1:15-cv-00026-RLM-SLC.