Texas judge dismisses patent infringement claim against Bass Pro

A Texas judge has dismissed a Web patent infringement claim against Bass Pro Shops brought on by a patent holding company.

Texas Eastern District Judge Leonard Davis on July 22 dismissed lawsuit claims by Parallel Networks LLC alleging patent infringement by 120 different companies in a case that dates back to 2010, according to court records.

The dismissal followed a late June settlement by Bass Pro. Court documents did not reveal a settlement figure.

The case, Parallel Networks LLC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. et al, charged infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,446,111, a "dynamic generated transient applet" described as a small executable computer program generated in response to requests by a website's users. Bass Pro was accused of infringing on the patent through BassPro.com.

The Springfield-based outdoor retailer had denied it infringed the patent and filed a counter-claim asserting the lawsuit was invalid, according to Law360.com.

The July 22 action by the federal judge also dismissed the counter-claim.