HomeAway, Inc.

HomeAway, Inc., now primarily operating under the brand Vrbo, is a subsidiary of Expedia Group, Inc. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company was a publicly traded entity until it was acquired by Expedia for approximately $3.9 billion in December 2015. In 2020, Expedia consolidated its vacation rental brands, including HomeAway and VRBO, under the single Vrbo brand.

HomeAway operates an online marketplace for the vacation rental industry. The company's platforms connect homeowners and property managers with travelers seeking to rent properties such as cabins, condos, and villas as an alternative to traditional hotels. Its portfolio of websites has included HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, VacationRentals.com, and various international domains. The service provides tools for property owners to list and manage their rentals and for travelers to search, compare, and book stays.

The company's patent litigation posture, based on the provided data, is that of an operating company defending its business. HomeAway, Inc. has been a defendant in one tracked patent case and has not been a plaintiff. This defensive role is typical for a technology-focused operating company. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, a jurisdiction historically popular for patent infringement lawsuits.

The notable litigation involving HomeAway is the 2013 case Sampo IP, LLC v. Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC et al. In this suit, HomeAway was one of several defendants. The plaintiff, Sampo IP, LLC, was a subsidiary of Marathon Patent Group, a company that acquired and licensed patent portfolios, characterizing it as a non-practicing entity (NPE). The patents in that case related to a "Centrifugal Communication and Collaboration Method."