Gaelco S.A. v. Arachnid 360, LLC

293 F. Supp. 3d 783
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 21, 2017
DocketNo. 16 C 10629
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 293 F. Supp. 3d 783 (Gaelco S.A. v. Arachnid 360, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gaelco S.A. v. Arachnid 360, LLC, 293 F. Supp. 3d 783 (illinoised 2017).

Opinion

Another object the [sic] invention is to provide a method to manage the refereeing of the games played on amusement machines wherein a human or non-human referee can make decisions at a remote site. Monitoring or Refereeing may occur in real time or with a time delay, based, at least in part, on multimedia information captured from the amusement machines which may communicate over a network such as the Internet. Accordingly, the system and method enables game play to be monitored and refereed, cheating to be reduced and enhances fair competition in games and between players....
[T]he multimedia information and other data may be transmitted over a network (e.g., a LAN, WAN, the Internet, a wireless network, a cellular network, etc.) to an appropriate receiving device (e.g., monitors, computers, speakers, etc.) at the refereeing center....
[T]he system of this invention permits playing individual or team competitions on a global scale, wherein the games are played with efficient supervision of all incidents of play, as it includes the game environment in the system.

R. 1-1 cols. 2-4.

Claim 1 recites:

*787A remote monitoring or refereeing system for one or more dart machines comprising:
one or more dart machines, each of the one or more dart machines comprising:
play components and means to capture multimedia information relating to conduct of play and performance of players using the one or more dart machines;
at least one camera to capture the conduct of play; and
means for transmitting the multimedia and captured conduct of play information, and
at least one refereeing center to receive multimedia and captured conduct of play information, to determine whether at least one of the players complies with at least one condition of play, either nearly instantaneously or with a time delay, and to transmit data including the determination as to whether at least one of the players complies with at least one condition of play to the one or more dart machines.

R. 1-1 col. 6.

Claim 10 recites:

A remote monitoring or refereeing method for dart machines, to be used in a system comprising:
a plurality of dart machines communicating over a network, each of the plurality of dart machines comprising: play components, means for capturing data on performance of the players at the machines and image capturing means;
means for transmitting the data captured from the dart machines to the communication network; and
one or more refereeing centers for evaluating the data transmitted over the network and to enable refereeing of play substantially instantaneously or with a time delay;
the method comprising:
capturing, if the player complies with certain conditions of play during the game play, a result of a portion of play and an image of the area of play and of the player;
transmitting the result and the image to the one or more refereeing centers to be evaluated by a referee;
enabling a decision by the referee as to whether the portion of play has been performed without infringing a rule of play;
transmitting the decision via the network to corresponding dart machines according to a competition refereed; and
displaying the decision on the corresponding dart machines according to the competition refereed.

Id. cols. 7-8.

Gaelco's additional asserted claims (claims 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 191 ) depend on either claim 1 or claim 10. See R. 21 at 4-5 (Gaelco's response brief quotes the language of "independent" claims 1 and 10 in full, and then explains that "[t]he other Asserted Claims are all dependent claims").

B. Gaelco's Business

Gaelco sells dart machines called Radikal Darts that connect multiple dart boards together to allow players to compete over the internet. R. 1 ¶ 10. Radikal Darts machines are covered by the '083 patent because they include the claimed refereeing system allowing a referee to review a dart match for rule violations. Id.

*788C. Gaelco's Infringement Complaint Against Arachnid

Gaelco brings a two-count complaint against Arachnid for infringement of the '083 patent. Count I alleges that Arachnid has directly infringed the '083 patent in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a) by creating a remote monitoring or refereeing system for dart machines marketed as Arachnid Galaxy 3 without permission or license from Gaelco. Id. ¶¶ 12-19. Specifically, Gaelco alleges that Galaxy 3 infringes claims 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 19 of the '083 patent. Id. ¶ 15. Count II alleges that Arachnid has induced infringement of the '083 patent in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) by configuring its Galaxy 3 machines such that operators who use them perform methods that infringe at least claims 10-14 of the '083 patent. Id. ¶¶ 20-29.

Standard

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion challenges the sufficiency of the complaint. E.g., Hallinan v. Fraternal Order of Police of Chi. Lodge No. 7 , 570 F.3d 811, 820 (7th Cir. 2009). A complaint must provide "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P.

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Bluebook (online)
293 F. Supp. 3d 783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaelco-sa-v-arachnid-360-llc-illinoised-2017.