I/P Engine, Inc. is a non-practicing entity (NPE), also known as a patent assertion entity, that holds and enforces patents without manufacturing products or offering services based on the underlying technology. The company was a subsidiary of Innovate/Protect Inc., which later merged with Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG). I/P Engine was formerly known as Smart Search Labs. The principals of I/P Engine included former executives from Lycos, from which the company acquired its initial patent portfolio.
I/P Engine's business is centered on monetizing a portfolio of patents, primarily related to internet search technology. The patents were originally developed by a company called WiseWire, which Lycos acquired in 1998. The portfolio includes patents describing methods for filtering internet search results that combine content-based and collaborative filtering techniques. The company does not have products or operational services; its activities consist of licensing and litigating its patent assets.
The company's patent litigation posture is that of a patent assertion entity. As indicated by the provided case data, I/P Engine acts solely as a plaintiff. Its single tracked case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, a common venue for patent litigation. The company has also filed suit in the Southern District of New York.
The most notable case involving the company is I/P Engine, Inc. v. AOL, Inc. et al., filed in 2011. The defendants included Google, AOL, and Target, who were accused of infringing two patents related to search advertising technology, such as Google's AdWords and AdSense systems. After a jury trial, I/P Engine won a judgment of over $30 million. However, in August 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the decision, invalidating the asserted patent claims as obvious. In a separate matter, I/P Engine reached a settlement with Microsoft in 2013 to resolve a different patent lawsuit.