MPHJ Technology Sues Nebraska Attorney General, Claims AG Violated its Right to Assert its Patents

Law360 reports that MPHJ Technology Investments filed a lawsuit against Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on November 8th in federal court, claiming that Bruning has violated the company’s right to assert its patents by barring its attorneys from sending patent licensing demand letters.

MPHJ Technology filed its complaint after U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon granted it leave on November 7th to intervene in a related case over Bruning’s July 2013 order that MPHJ’s law firm Farney Daniels PC stop sending demand letters in the state.

Farney Daniels LLP has represented MPHJ Technology Investments, which claims to own patents for an MFP’s scan to email. Typically, law firms representing MPHJ target small firms, sending letters stating that the company is violating its patents by using an MFP’s scan to email, and threatening to sue the company unless the company remits approximately $1,000 per employee for the alleged violation.