Starbucks Levels Fraud Claim in New Tactic to Fight Patent Suit

Coffee giant Starbucks Corp. is pursing an aggressive and novel litigation strategy to defend against what it characterizes as a weak infringement suit, accusing prolific patent monetization executive Leigh Rothschild of fraud and trying to put him on the hook personally for attorneys’ fees.

The innocuously named Analytical Technologies, an LLC linked to Rothschild, sued Starbucks and at least 19 other restaurant chains and food-ordering services starting in June 2023 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. AT accused them of infringing a patent directed to remote food and drink-ordering and bill-paying technology, which it acquired ...