Defendant

Auto Merchants, Inc.

1 case as defendant.

Cases
1
Active
0
1 closed
Filed
2026
Top venue
E D Tex
1 case

Company profile

Company overview. Auto Merchants, Inc. is a privately held used-car dealership based at 4464 W. Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas (a second location at 17738 Davenport Rd., Dallas has also been listed). It was incorporated as a Texas domestic for-profit corporation on March 23, 1994, with Sid Sharbaf as registered agent and owner; the dealership says it has operated since the mid-1980s. Third-party directories estimate roughly 5–9 employees and annual revenue around $3.7 million (estimates only; no audited figures are public). It is not publicly traded and has no parent company.

Products / services / operations. Auto Merchants sells pre-owned vehicles at retail and wholesale, describing itself as specializing in used luxury and domestic cars. Its services include special/in-house financing, extended warranties, and low-cost vehicle transport. It operates a full dealership facility (showroom, mechanics' shop, and retail space built in Plano in 2014–2015) and maintains an active online sales presence via automerchants.com and dealer listings.

Patent-litigation posture. Auto Merchants is an operating company that has appeared in our database only as a defendant: 0 plaintiff cases and 1 defendant case. The sole tracked matter is Context Directions LLC v. Auto Merchants, Inc. (2:26-cv-00729), filed August 21, 2026, in the Eastern District of Texas before Judge Rodney Gilstrap — a venue known for heavy patent dockets.

Notable case context. The plaintiff, Context Directions LLC, is a patent-assertion entity associated with inventor Jeffrey M. Gross (per Unified Patents) that holds U.S. Patent Nos. 9,807,564 and 10,142,791, covering hierarchical sensor-based context detection in mobile devices. Context Directions has filed near-identical suits against numerous Texas car dealers (Peters Chevrolet, Wagner Cadillac, Patterson Motors, Huffines, Tyler Motor, Gulliver USA, and others), alleging that vehicles' sensor/ADAS or telematics systems infringe. PatSnap and RPX characterize these as NPE-vs.-dealer actions; similar cases have ended in negotiated dismissals. No merits determination is available at this early stage.