MacroSolve Sues American Express Over Mobile Patent

MacroSolve Inc. sued American Express Corp., adding it to a long list of companies it has targeted for patent infringement.

Tulsa, Okla.-based MacroSolve obtained a patent in 2010 that applies to mobile technology which enables two-way transmission of data. In other words, any mobile app that communicates with users and vice versa is, according to MacroSolve, infringing on its patent.

American Express has apps for customers of its financial and travel services.

‘Patent troll’
MacroSolve is considered by some patent-watchers to be a “patent troll.” A patent troll is a company that makes money primarily by suing other companies for patent infringement. Mobile technology is fertile ground for such companies – and travel companies are among the targets.

Since being awarded the mobile technology patent, MacroSolve has sued dozens of companies.

The list includes about 15 prominent travel firms, among them: American Airlines, Avis Rent A Car System, Continental Airlines, the Hertz Corp., Hipmunk Inc., Hotels.com, Hyatt Hotels Corp., Kayak, Priceline.com, Southwest Airlines, Travelocity.com and United Airlines.

Neither has it been shy about suing non-travel giants such as Google, Facebook and Walmart.

In July, MacroSolve sold the assets of Illume Mobile, its app development unit, to DecisionPoint for $250,000 in cash and approximately $750,000 of DecisionPoint stock, and an agreement by DecisionPoint to pay ongoing patent royalties on current and future sales of apps based upon Patent No. 7,822,816

MacroSolve now concentrates solely on defending its patent through litigation and licensing agreements.

See related story, Travel Apps Targeted in Patent Infringement Lawsuits , (March 22, 2012)