apple power adapter lawsuit against media solutions holdings

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GREGORY P. STONE (State Bar No. 078329)[email protected] T. RING (State Bar No. 220769)[email protected] SONG (State Bar No. 236588)[email protected], TOLLES & OLSON LLP355 South Grand AvenueThirty-Fifth FloorLos Angeles, CA 90071-1560Telephone: (213) 683-9100FacsImile: (213) 687-3702

PERRY J. SAIDMAN (pro hac vice pending)[email protected] B. GOODRUM (pro hac vice pending)[email protected] D. RAYNAL (pro hac vice pending)[email protected] DtSIGNLAW GROUP, LLC8601 Georgia Avenue, Suite 603Silver Spring, MD 20910Telephone: (301) 585-8601FacsImile: (301) 585-0138

COMPLAINT FOR DESIGNPATENT INFRINGEMENT

Attorneys for Plaintiff15 APPLE INC.

16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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19 APPLE INC., a California corporation,

20 Plaintiff,

21 vs.

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-and-MEDIA SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS,LLC, a Delaware limited liability DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALcompany; eREPLACEMENTS, LLC, aDelaware limited liability company;and LAPTOPS FOR LESS, LLC, aDelaware limited liability company,

Defendants.

COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND

Case 8:09-cv-01364-CJC-RNB Document 1 Filed 11/23/2009 of 20

http://blogs.findlaw.com/courtside/?referral=BD

NOW COMES Plaintiff Apple Inc. ("Apple"), by and through its attorneys,

2 and for its Complaint against defendants Media Solutions Holdings, LLC,

3 eReplacements, LLC, and Laptops For Less, LLC, alleges as follows:

4 JURISDICTION AND VENUE

5 1. This action arises under the patent laws of the United States, 35 U.S.C.

6 §§ 1, et. seq. The court has subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a).

7 Personal jurisdiction over the Defendants is proper pursuant to Federal Rule of

8 Civil Procedure 4 and California Code of Civil Procedure § 410.10.

9 2. Venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b) and (c) and 1400(b). The

10 Defendants reside in this district and regularly conduct business in this district.

11 INTRODUCTION

12 3. This is an action for infringement of a design patent assigned to Apple.

13 The Defendants infringe the patent by selling power adapters that are substantially

14 the same as the patented design. Through various websites and otherwise, the

15 Defendants market these knock-off power adapters for use with Apple portable

16 computers, such as the MacBook. The Defendants' infringing conduct has

17 damaged Apple and inflicted irreparable harm.

18 4. Apple seeks, inter alia, disgorgement of Defendants' profits from the

19 sale of these infringing adapters, and injunctive relief.

20 THE PARTIES

21 5. Plaintiff Apple Inc. is a corporation organized and existing under the

22 laws of the State of California with a. principal place of business at 1 Infinite Loop,

23 Cupertino, California. Among other things, Apple designs, manufactures and sells

24 computers, personal electronic devices, and accessories for those products, such as

25 power adapters.

26 6. Upon information and belief, defendant Media Solutions Holdings,

27 LLC (hereinafter "MSH"), is a Delaware limited liability company with a principal

28 place of business at 1290 North Hancock Street, Anaheim, California. Upon

2 COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND


http://blogs.findlaw.com/courtside/?referral=BD

1 information and belief, MSH owns, controls and operates two closely related

2 business entities: Laptops for Less, LLC, and eReplacements, LLC.

3 7. Upon information and belief, Laptops For Less, LLC. (hereinafter

4 "Laptops for Less" or "LFL"), is a Delaware limited liability company with a

5 principal place of business at 1290 North Hancock Street, Anaheim, California.

6 Upon information and belief, Laptops For Less is a wholly-owned subsidiary of

7 MSH and operates the websites at www.laptopsforless.com and

8 www.laptopacadapter.com.

9 8. Upon information and belief, defendant eReplacements, LLC

10 (hereinafter "eReplacements"), is a Delaware limited liability company with a

11 principal place of business at 1290 North Hancock Street, Anaheim, California

12 Upon information and belief, eReplacements, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of

13 MSH and operates the website at www.ereplacements.com.

14 9. Upon information and belief, defendants MSH and eReplacements use

15 the marks LAPTOPS FOR LESS and LFL to offer their goods and services and do

16 business as Laptops for Less, Inc.

17 APPLE'S DESIGN PATENT

18 10. U.S. Patent No. D478,310 (the '''310 Patent"), entitled "Power

19 Adapter," issued on August 12,2003, covering an ornamental design for a power

20 adapter. A true and correct copy of the '310 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit A

21 and made a part hereof by reference. Apple is the owner by assignment of the' 310

22 Patent.

23 DEFENDANTS' INFRINGING ACTS

24 11. Upon information and belief, defendants MSH and LFL operate the

25 websites at www.laptopsforless.com and www.laptopacadapter.com, through which

26 they sell various consumer electronic accessories at retail, including knock-off

27 power adapters for use with genuine Apple portable computers.

28 12. Upon information and belief, defendants MSH and eReplacements



operate the website at www.ereplacements.com. through which they sell various

2 consumer electronic accessories at wholesale, including knock-off power adapters

3 for use with genuine Apple portable computers.

4 13. Defendants are selling at wholesale and retail knock-off power adapters

5 in various power configurations that infringe the '310 Patent. For example, the

6 photos below of Defendants' 45 Watt power adapter illustrate that it is substantially

7 the same as Apple's patented design. The numbered figures next to the photos are

8 from the '3 10 Patent.

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'310 Patent Compared to Defendants' 45 Watt Power Adapter

15 FIG. 1 FIG. 2

FIG. 5

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21FIG. 3 FIG. 4

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24 FIG. 6 FIG. 7

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4 COMPLAINT AND lURY DEMAND


FIG. 12

FIG. 9

FIG. 11FIG. 10

FIG. 8

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FIG. 13 FIG. 14

18 14. The Defendants' knock-off power adapters also are substantially the

19 same in appearance as Apple's genuine power adapters for its computers. For

20 example, the photo below of Defendants' 45 Watt power adapter illustrates that it is

21 virtually identical in appearance as Apple's genuine 45 Watt power adapter.

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APPLE'S 45W POWER ADAPTER DEFENDANTS' 45W POWER ADAPTER

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COUNT I - INFRINGEMENT OF U.S. PAT. NO. D478,310

2 15. Apple re-alleges and incorporates hereto by reference paragraphs 1

3 through 14 of this Complaint as though fully set forth herein.

4 16. Defendants MSH, eReplacements and LFL have infringed and continue

5 to infringe the'310 Patent. MSH, eReplacements and LFL have imported into the

6 United States, sold and offered to sell power adapters that are substantially the same

7 as the ornamental design claimed in the '310 Patent, and will continue to do so

8 unless enjoined by this Court.

9 17. Apple has sustained damages as a result of the infringing acts ofMSH,

10 eReplacements and LFL. In addition, Apple has suffered and will continue to

11 suffer irreparable harm unless infringement of the '310 Patent is enjoined.

12 WHEREFORE, plaintiff Apple prays that this Court grant the following

13 relief:

14 A. A judgment that MSH, eReplacements and LFL have infringed U.S.

15 Patent No. D478,310;

16 B. An award of damages adequate to compensate Apple for this

17 infringement, including an award of the Defendants' profits from their infringement

18 of U.S. Patent No. D478,310, together with pre- and post-judgment interest;

19 C. An assessment of costs;

20 D. An injunction against MSH, eReplacements and LFL, and their

21 officers, agents, employees, parent and subsidiary corporations, assigns, successors

22 in interest and all persons in active participation or concert with them or any of

23 them, enjoining them from continued acts of infringement of U.S. Patent No.

24 D478,310;

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Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and equitable.1 E.

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November 23,2009 MUNGER, TOLLES & OLSON LLPSAIDMAN DESIGNLAW GROUP, LLC

By: JJ~~w>Attorneys for Plaintiff APPLE INC.



1 JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

2 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38(b), Apple demands a trial by

3 jury on all matters and issues triable by jury.

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5 Dated:

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November 23,2009 MUNGER, TOLLES & OLSON LLPSAIDMAN DESIGNLAW GROUP, LLC



EXHIBIT A


11111111111111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111111111111111USOOD47831OS

(12) United States Design Patent (10) Patent No.:Andre et at. (45) Date of Patent:

US D478,310 S** Aug. 12,2003

(54) I'OWER ADAPTER

(**) Term: 14 Years

(21) AppL No,: 29/145,957

(56) RclhL'nces Cited

ClAIM(57)

I)ESCIUPTION

We claim the ornamental design for a power adapter, substantially as shown and described .

Prilllilry rc'xllilliner--liolly liaynham(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm--l3eyer Weaver & Thomas,LLP

FIG, I is a perspective view of a power adapter in accord ance with the present design,FIG. 2 is a right side view for the power adapter shown inF:IG. 1.FIG, 3 is a rear view for the power addpter shown in FIG.I.FIG. 4 is a left side view for the power adapter shown inFIG. 1.FIG. 5 is a front view for the power adapter shown in FlG.1.FIG. 6 is a top view ror the power adapter shown in FIG. I.FIG. 7 is a bottom view for the power adapatcr shown inFIG. 1.FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the power adapter with anadapter clement removed and fed extellded in accordancewith the present design.FIG. 9 is a front view for Ihe power adapter shown in FIG.8.FIG. 10 is a right side view telr the power adapter shown inFIG. 8.FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the adapter element of thepower adapter.FIG. 12 is a side view of the adapter element of the poweradapter shown in FIG. n.FIG. 13 is a front view of the adapter element of the poweradapter shown in FIG. 11; and,FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the adapter element of the poweradapter shown in FIG. 11.The broken line showing of a partial cord is for illustrativepurposes only and forms no part of the claimed design.The adapter clement is shown detached in FIGS, 11-14 forclarity of illustration.

320/112D13/110

" 363/t 46" 439/172

.luI. 31, 2001

US PATENT DOCUMENTS

OTHER PUBUCA110NS

5.019,767 i\ ¥ 5/1991 Shirai et al. ".DJ8JJ 15 S 9/1997 Nagele et aL5,684.6S9 A " t Ift'!,)7 Hahn6,086,395 A * 7j200() Lloyd et at. .

(73) Assignec: Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA(US)

(75) Inventors: Bartley K. Andre. Menlo Park, ('A(US); Daniel .I. CosteI', San Franciso,CA (US); Daniele De Iullis, SauFrancisco, CA (US); Richard P.Howarth, San Francisco, CA (US);.Ionathan P. Ive, San Francisco, CA(US); Steve Johs, Palo Allo, CA (US);Duncan Robel·t Kerr, San Francisco,CA (US); Matthew Dean Rohrhach,San Francisco, CA (US); Doughs ItSatzger, San Carlos, CA (US); CalvinQ. Seid, Palo Alto, CA (US);Christopher .I. Stringer, Pacifica, CA(US); I':ugene Anthony Whang, SanFrancisco, CA (US)

(22) Filed:

(51) LOC (7) CI. . 13-02(52) U.S. C1.." DI3/110(58) Field of Sea/Th D 131l1O, 107;

439/172-173,500; 363/146; 320/107

US Design patent application Set. No. 29/153,133, byAndre et aL. entitled "POWER ADAPTER." tiled Oct. 22,2001.

(I.ist coutinucd on next page,) I Claim, 4 Drawing Sheets

EXHIBIT APace 9


US D478,310 S2

orllLR I'UBUC'ArIONS

U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/153,988, byAndrc cl aI., cntitled "ADAPTLR PLUG," tiled Oct. 'J'J

2001.

U.S. Design patcnt application Scr. No. 29/159,757, by

Andre et aI., entitled "N)APTLR," libl Apr. 24, 2002.

* citcd by examiner

EXHIBIT APage 10


U.S. Patent Aug. 12, 2003 Sheet 1 of 4 US D478,310 S

FIG. 2

EXHIBIT AP::InI:,11

FIG. 3


u.s. Patent Aug. 12, 2()()3 Sheet 2 of 4 US D478,310 S

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FIG. 7

EXHIBIT APaae 12


U.S. Patent

FIG. 8

A.ug. 12,2003 Sheet 3 of 4 US D478,310 S

=

FIG. 9

II

FIG. 10

EXHIBIT APage 13


u.s. Patent Aug. 12,2003 Sheet 4 of 4

FIG. 11

US D478,310 S

11111

'

FIG. 12

FIG. 13

EXHIBIT APage 14

FIG. 14


apple power adapter lawsuit against media solutions holdings

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