Otter seeks declaratory judgment in patent lawsuit

DENVER — Otter Products LLC, based in Fort Collins, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver seeking a declaratory judgment to the effect that it is not infringing the patents of a Farmingdale, New York, company that sells phone cases and cell-phone grips.

The attorney for the New York company, Flygrip Inc., wrote a letter to Otter Oct. 12, 2021, asserting patent rights to products that Otter sells in conjunction with PopSockets LLC. It also sent a letter to PopSockets, according to information in the Otter lawsuit, and six days later Flygrip filed lawsuits against Amazon Inc. and Walmart Inc. for allegedly infringing the same patents by knowingly selling Otter + PopSockets devices. 

Flygrip in its letter, while warning about the alleged patent infringement, suggested that Otter may wish to “have its patent counsel examine the patents to determine whether it would like to take a non-exclusive license to the patents.” Flygrip had offered to sell the patents in October 2020.

Otter in its court action seeks to have the court declare that a patent infringement has not occurred. 

Otter and PopSockets have individually filed numerous lawsuits against potential patent violators and companies that they allege sell knock-off counterfeit products. PopSockets was the second-fastest-growing private company in the nation in 2018.

Flygrip’s counsel, Robert Katz, did not return a phone call or email prior to publication of this report. Flygrip has up to 60 days to respond to the lawsuit.

The case is Otter Products LLC v. Flygrip Inc., case number 21cv03298.

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