Its last open case having been dismissed in November 2017, Lone Star Document Management, LLC (LSDM) has rebooted its sole litigation campaign with separate cases against Atlassian (1:26-cv-00019), Document Logistix (1:26-cv-00021), Dropbox (1:26-cv-00022), HCL Technologies (HCL America) (1:26-cv-00020), IBM (1:26-cv-00018), and Oracle (1:26-cv-00017), all in the Western District of Texas. The plaintiff asserts a single patent generally related to reviewing multiple documents with particular metadata; the defendants are accused of infringement through the provision of their respective "document and content management and related services"; for Atlassian, over the Confluence 8.0 platform; for Document Logistix, the Document Management by Document Logistix platform; for Dropbox, the Dropbox platform; for HCL, the Connections 8.0 platform; for IBM, the IBM FileNet Content Manager platform; and for Oracle, the Oracle WebCenter Content document management solution.
Comprising a family of one, the sole asserted patent (6,918,082) issued in July 2005 with an estimated priority date in December 1998. Patent monetization figure Jeffrey M. Gross and Matthew H. Parker, the named inventors, transferred the patent (as an application) to Netformation, Inc.—a New York entity of uncertain operations controlled by Parker (its president) and Gross (its executive VP)—in 1998. In August 2000, Netformation assigned the patent back to Gross, which subsequently transferred the patent to IPEX LLC in December 2006.
That Delaware NPE disclosed to the Eastern District of Texas that it was a subsidiary of Generation Financial Group, LLC, one of a dizzying array of entities held by Guggenheim Capital, a global investment and advisory financial services firm with myriad investments over the years. It asserted the '082 patent in a case that ran from August 2008 through March 2009 against Adobe, Anthology (Xythos Software), Freedom Solutions Group (Docscorp), GRMS (Active Innovations), Open Text, and The Woodbridge Co. (West Publishing).
In September 2010, IPEX and Gross assigned their respective rights in the patent to LSDM, itself formed in Delaware in August 2010. On social media, Gross holds himself out as having served as its managing member since September 2010 and provides the following description: "Founded and managed intellectual property company around technology I co-invented. Negotiated investment with multi-billion-dollar international financial firm and engaged key advisors. Currently directing negotiations with several potential partners for use of proprietary technologies across multiple industries".
In recent years, Gross has been identified with a large and growing number of litigating NPEs; taken collectively, Gross-tied entities comprise the largest bulk filing operation in the patent space, with around 140 litigation campaigns launched to date. Some of his cases have landed before Delaware Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly, the operation of whose standing orders has revealed that Gross has, at least in some of his litigation campaigns, proceeded with funding. For details, see "Largest Bulk Filing Operation Scoops Up More Patents" (December 2025).
LSDM launched this, its sole litigation campaign in March 2011 and has since hit roughly 25 defendants including Adlib Publishing Systems, Compulink Management Center, Kofax (Atalasoft), Lexbe, Motive Systems, PrinterLogic (Maxxvault), TransPerfect Global (Digital Reef), and Vizit. The campaign proceeded in file-and-settle fashion, with LSDM's last affirmative infringement case having been filed in April 2013. Roughly one year later, the US Supreme Court handed down its Alice decision providing the current framework for determining whether patent claims are drawn to ineligible subject matter, including to an abstract idea. LSDM appears to have continued asserting the '082 patent thereafter but through a letter campaign, rather than through litigation. Those letters prompted four declaratory judgment actions targeting LSDM filed between October 2015 and June 2017, as well as a petition for covered business method review of the '082 patent before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), challenging its claims under Alice. Quick settlements followed.
The new West Texas cases have yet to be assigned to a judge. A one-page assessment of this litigation can be found on RPX Empower here. Devlin Law Firm LLC represents the plaintiff in litigation. 1/5, Western District of Texas.
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