Defendant
1 case as defendant.
United Air Lines, Inc., commonly known as United, is a major American airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the publicly traded holding company, United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL). With roots tracing back to Varney Air Lines in 1926, the company was formed as United Air Lines in 1931. As one of the world's largest airlines, it employs over 100,000 people and operates a comprehensive global route network.
United is an operating company focused on air transportation for passengers and cargo. The airline operates an extensive network of domestic and international routes, with major hubs in cities including Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Its services include passenger travel in various classes, a loyalty program named MileagePlus, and air cargo transportation. Regional service is offered through independent carriers under the brand name United Express. United is also a founding member of the Star Alliance, a global airline coalition.
In patent litigation, United Air Lines has been a defendant, consistent with its position as a large operating company. The database shows one tracked case where it was a defendant and none where it was a plaintiff. This pattern indicates that the company is a target of patent assertions rather than an entity that actively asserts patents. The single case was filed in the District of Delaware, a common venue for patent litigation.
The tracked case is Cyberfone Systems, LLC v. United Air Lines, Inc., filed in 2011. This lawsuit was part of a massive litigation campaign brought by Cyberfone, a non-practicing entity (NPE), which sued dozens of companies across various industries over a patent related to data transaction processing. Cyberfone, a subsidiary of the patent licensing company Marathon Patent Group, asserted a portfolio that was ultimately unsuccessful in court. The patent at the core of many of these lawsuits was later invalidated by the courts as being directed to an abstract idea, leading to the failure of the litigation campaign against United and many other defendants.