You are on page 1of 44

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 1 of 44 Page ID #:10

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 2 of 44 Page ID #:11

Plaintiffs Clear Focus Imaging, Inc. (Clear Focus) and Stephen G. Nelson

2 (Nelson), for their causes of action against Defendant FLEXcon, Company, Inc. 3 (FLEXcon), state and allege as follows: 4 5 1. JURISDICTION AND VENUE This is an action for patent infringement arising under the patent laws

6 of the United States, Title 35, United States Code. This Court has jurisdiction over 7 the subject matter of this action under Title 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1338(a). 8 2. Venue is proper in this Judicial District under 28 U.S.C. 1391(b)PARTIES AND BACKGROUND 3. Clear Focus is a corporation duly organized in California, doing

9 (c) and 1400(b). 10 11

12 business in and having its principal place of business at 60 Maxwell Court, Santa 13 Rosa, California 95401. Nelson is an Arizona resident and resides at 4819 E. 14 Calle Redonda, Phoenix, Arizona 85018. 15 4. Clear Focus manufactures and sells perforated, one-way vision

16 products that are used for displaying images on one side of the one-way vision 17 product and are see-through when viewed from the opposite side. Clear Focus 18 manufactures both exterior mount and interior mount one-way vision products. 19 Clear Focus one-way vision products can be mounted on, for example, 20 windows of a bus or a store. Clear Focus products are marked with the patent 21 numbers under which they are made and comply with 35 U.S.C. 287(a). 22 5. Clear Focus owns or is the exclusive licensee of many patents

23 directed to its one-way vision product technology. Included among these patents 24 are the three patents identified in Counts I, II and III herein. On information and 25 belief, FLEXcon has had actual notice of these patents since at least 2002. 26 Nelson is the owner of the patent identified in Count III. 27 6. Defendant FLEXcon is a corporation duly organized in

28 Massachusetts, doing business in and having its principal place of business at 1


COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 3 of 44 Page ID #:12

1 FLEXcon Industrial Park, Spencer, Massachusetts 01562-2642. FLEXcon 2 advertises, markets and sells its infringing products throughout the United States, 3 including California. It has a sales and distribution facility in this Judicial 4 District located at 12840 Reservoir Street, Chino, California 91710. Substantial 5 acts of infringement have occurred in this Judicial District. FLEXcon does not 6 have a registered agent for service of process in California. Pursuant to Rules 7 4(e)(1) and (h)(1)(A) and (B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Section 8 416.10(b) of the California Code of Civil Procedure, service of process may be 9 made by serving Neil McDonough, President and CEO, FLEXcon Company, 10 Inc., 1 FLEXcon Industrial Park, Spencer, MA 01562-2642. 11 7. Defendant FLEXcon manufactures and sells perforated, see-through

12 infringing window films, including SEETHRU-SIGN STSCF2, STSWBF2 and 13 STSWB7030 and STSWB7030T. 14 8. FLEXcons website, FLEXcon.com, promotes the use and sale of its

15 infringing products. This is an exceptional case within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 16 285. 17 18 19 20 here. 21 10. On March 11, 1997, United States Letters Patent 5,609,938 (the 9. COUNT 1 Infrigement of U.S. Patent No. 5,609,938 Clear Focus realleges paragraphs 1 through 8, as though set forth

22 938 patent), entitled Image Display Apparatus With Holes For Opposite Side 23 Viewing, was duly and legally issued to inventor Rodney M. Shields. Clear 24 Focus owns all right, title and interest in the 938 patent. A true and correct copy 25 of the 938 patent is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 26 11. FLEXcon has directly, indirectly, contributorily, and/or by

27 inducement infringed one or more claims of the 938 patent, including claim 1, 28 through its manufacture and sale of products, including SEETHRU-SIGN S
COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 4 of 44 Page ID #:13

1 STSCF2. 2 12. The infringement of the 938 patent by FLEXcon has injured Clear

3 Focus in an amount to be determined at trial. Furthermore, by these acts, 4 FLEXcon has irreparably injured Clear Focus, and the injury will continue unless 5 the Court enjoins FLEXcon. 6 13. The infringement of the 938 patent by FLEXcon has injured Clear

7 Focus in an amount to be determined at trial. Furthermore, by these acts, 8 FLEXcon has irreparably injured Clear Focus, and the injury will continue unless 9 the Court enjoins FLEXcon. 10 11 12 13 here. 14 15. On June 30, 1998, United States Letters Patent 5,773,110 (the 110 14. COUNT II Infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,773,110 Clear Focus realleges paragraphs 1 through 13, as though set forth

15 patent), entitled Window Painting Apparatus And Method, was duly and 16 legally issued to inventor Rodney M. Shields. Clear Focus owns all right, title and 17 interest in the 110 patent. A true and correct copy of the 110 patent is attached 18 hereto as Exhibit B. 19 16. FLEXcon has directly, indirectly, contributorily, and/or by

20 inducement infringed one or more claims of the 110 patent, including claim 13, 21 through its manufacture and sale of products, including SEETHRU-SIGN 22 STSWBF2 and STSWBF7030. 23 17. The infringement of the 110 patent by FLEXcon has injured Clear

24 Focus in an amount to be determined at trial. Furthermore, by these acts, 25 FLEXcon has irreparably injured Clear Focus, and the injury will continue unless 26 the Court enjoins FLEXcon. 27 18. On information and belief, FLEXcon has had actual knowledge of

28 the 110 patent and has willfully infringed the patent by engaging in objectively
COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 5 of 44 Page ID #:14

1 reckless conduct when it continued making and selling the infringing products in 2 the face of an objectively high risk that it was infringing Clear Focus valid 110 3 patent. 4 5 6 19. COUNT III Infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,258,429 On July 10, 2001, United States Patent No. 6,258,429 (the 429

7 Patent), entitled One-Way See-Thru Panel and method of Making Same, was 8 duly and legally issued to inventor Nelson, who is the owner of all right, title and 9 interest in the patent. Clear Focus is the exclusive licensee of this patent and has 10 the right to sue for infringement thereof. A true and correct copy of the 429 11 patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C. 12 20. FLEXcon has directly, indirectly, contributorily, and/or by

13 inducement infringed one or more claims of the 429 patent, including claim 1, 14 by its manufacture and sale of products, including STSWB7030T. 15 21. The infringement of the 429 patent by FLEXcon has injured Clear

16 Focus in an amount to be determined at trial. Furthermore, by these acts, 17 FLEXcon has irreparably injured Clear Focus, and the injury will continue unless 18 the Court enjoins FLEXcon. 19 22. On information and belief, FLEXcon has had actual knowledge of

20 the 429 patent and has willfully infringed the patent by engaging in objectively 21 reckless conduct when it continued making and selling the infringing products in 22 the face of an objectively high risk that it was infringing Clear Focus valid 429 23 patent. 24 25 PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs Clear Focus and Nelson pray for judgment against

26 Defendant FLEXcon as follows: 27 1. For a declaration that FLEXcon has directly, indirectly, contributorily

28 and by inducement, infringed the 938 patent, the 110 patent and the 429 patent,
COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 6 of 44 Page ID #:15

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 7 of 44 Page ID #:16

EXHIBIT A

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 8 of 44 Page ID #:17

EXHIBIT A

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 9 of 44 Page ID #:18

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 10 of 44 Page ID #:19

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 11 of 44 Page ID #:20

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 12 of 44 Page ID #:21

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 13 of 44 Page ID #:22

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 14 of 44 Page ID #:23

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 15 of 44 Page ID #:24

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 16 of 44 Page ID #:25

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 17 of 44 Page ID #:26

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 18 of 44 Page ID #:27

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 19 of 44 Page ID #:28

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 20 of 44 Page ID #:29

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 21 of 44 Page ID #:30

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 22 of 44 Page ID #:31

EXHIBIT B

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 23 of 44 Page ID #:32

Exhibit B

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 24 of 44 Page ID #:33

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 25 of 44 Page ID #:34

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 26 of 44 Page ID #:35

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 27 of 44 Page ID #:36

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 28 of 44 Page ID #:37

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 29 of 44 Page ID #:38

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 30 of 44 Page ID #:39

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 31 of 44 Page ID #:40

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 32 of 44 Page ID #:41

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 33 of 44 Page ID #:42

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 34 of 44 Page ID #:43

EXHIBIT C

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 35 of 44 Page ID #:44

Exhibit C

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 36 of 44 Page ID #:45

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 37 of 44 Page ID #:46

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 38 of 44 Page ID #:47

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 39 of 44 Page ID #:48

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 40 of 44 Page ID #:49

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 41 of 44 Page ID #:50

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 42 of 44 Page ID #:51

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 43 of 44 Page ID #:52

Case 5:12-cv-01372-DDP-OP Document 1

Filed 08/16/12 Page 44 of 44 Page ID #:53

You might also like