IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

MARSHALL DIVISION

RAVENWHITE LICENSING LLC,

Plaintiff

v.

THE HOME DEPOT, INC., et al.

Defendants.

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Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-00423-JRG-RSP

Lead Case

RAVENWHITE LICENSING LLC,

Plaintiff

v.

WALMART INC. and WAL-MART 

STORES TEXAS, LLC

Defendants.

Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-00418-JRG-RSP

Member Case

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT AGAINST 

DEFENDANTS THE HOME DEPOT, INC. AND HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC.

1. Plaintiff RavenWhite Licensing LLC (“RavenWhite” or “Plaintiff”) brings this 

patent infringement action against The Home Depot, Inc. and Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. 

(collectively, “Home Depot” or “Defendants”) based on information and belief, as follows:

NATURE OF THE ACTION

2. This is a civil action for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 10,594,823 (“the ’823 

Patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 11,562,402 (“the ’402 Patent”) (collectively, “the Patents-in-Suit”), 

attached hereto as Exhibit A and Exhibit B, under the patent laws of the United States, 35 U.S.C. 

§ 1 et seq.

3. RavenWhite brings this patent infringement action to protect its valuable patented 

technology relating to (1) advanced machine-to-machine authentication technique that stores 

encoded information at a client device on the basis of network resource requests determined by a 

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server; and (2) improved advertising systems that enable tiered bidding, cross-selling, and 

retargeting in online marketing systems.

THE PARTIES

4. RavenWhite is a Delaware limited liability company with a principal place of 

business at 145 La Sandra Way, Portola Valley, CA 94028.

5. Defendant The Home Depot, Inc. is a company organized under the laws of the 

State of Delaware with a principal place of business at 2455 Paces Ferry Rd. SE, Atlanta, GA 

30339. The Home Depot, Inc. may be served through its registered agent for service, Corporation 

Service Company, located at 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, DE 19808.

6. Defendant Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. is a corporation organized under the laws of 

the State of Delaware with its principal place of business located at 2455 Paces Ferry Road, 

Atlanta, Georgia 30339. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. may be served through its registered agent for 

service, Corporation Service Company D/B/A/ CSC-Lawyers Incorporated, located at 211 E. 7th 

Street, Suite 620, Austin, TX 78701.

7. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Home Depot, Inc.

The assets, liabilities, income, and expenditures of Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. are included in the 

consolidated financial statements of The Home Depot, Inc. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., on behalf of 

itself and The Home Depot, Inc., operates Home Depot retail stores in this District and throughout

the United States and the Home Depot retail website, www.homedepot.com, among other 

websites.

8. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. is controlled and managed by The Home Depot, Inc. in 

connection with Defendants’ infringing activities pleaded herein. Defendants function as an 

integrated organization and a single business enterprise in connection with those activities.

Defendants hold themselves out as a single business enterprise in their advertising and in 

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connection with the trademark “The Home Depot” in promoting the sale of products through Home 

Depot retail stores and homedepot.com, without any apparent distinction regarding which 

Defendant is offering or would deliver those products and services.

9. Both Defendants control, participate in the commission of, and have a direct 

financial interest in the infringing acts set forth herein.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

10. RavenWhite incorporates by reference and re-alleges the foregoing paragraphs as 

fully set forth herein.

11. This action arises under the patent laws of the United States, Title 35 of the United 

States Code. Accordingly, this Court has subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 

1338(a) and the patent laws of the United States, 35 U.S.C. § 1, et seq.

12. Venue is proper in this judicial District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391(b), (c) and 

1400(b). 

13. Home Depot’s online e-commerce platform works hand in hand with its physical 

stores and fulfillment centers, including those located within this District:

We are also continuing to expand our fulfillment network, investing in a significant 

number of new fulfillment facilities to drive speed and reliability of delivery for 

our customers and to help us ultimately meet our goal of reaching 90% of the U.S. 

population with same or next day delivery for extended home improvement product 

offerings, including big and bulky products. These facilities include omni-channel 

fulfillment centers, which deliver product directly to customers, and market 

delivery operations, which function as local hubs to consolidate freight for dispatch 

to customers for the final mile of delivery, with a focus on appliances. . . . . In 

addition to our distribution and fulfillment centers, we leverage our stores as a 

network of convenient customer pickup, return, and delivery fulfillment locations.

Our premium real estate footprint provides a distinct structural and competitive 

advantage.

The Home Depot 2022 Annual Report at 5, available at https://ir.homedepot.com/~/media/Files/H/HomeDepot-IR/2023/2022_HD%20Annual%20Report.pdf (last acCase 2:23-cv-00423-JRG-RSP Document 24 Filed 12/06/23 Page 3 of 71 PageID #: 196
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cessed September 11, 2023) (hereinafter, “Home Depot 2022 Annual Report”).

14. Home Depot’s online platforms support its interconnected retail strategy: “Online 

sales, which consist of sales generated online through our websites and mobile applications for 

products picked up at our stores or delivered to customer locations, represented 14.2% of net sales 

and grew by 7.4% during fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021. The increase in online sales in fiscal 

2022 was a result of customers continuing to leverage our digital platforms and reflects our 

ongoing investments to enhance these platforms and related fulfillment capabilities, which support 

our interconnected retail strategy.” Home Depot 2022 Annual Report at 28.

15. Home Depot intends for its websites to complement its stores: “Our online product 

offerings complement our stores by serving as an extended aisle, and we offer a significantly 

broader product assortment through our websites and mobile applications, including 

homedepot.com, our primary website . . . .” Home Depot 2022 Annual Report at 2. 

16. When a customer who resides in the Eastern District of Texas visits the Home 

Depot website, www.homedepot.com, the website directs that customer to a specific store in this 

District. 

17. As an example, when a customer residing in Tyler, Texas shops on the Home Depot 

website, the Tyler Home Depot address, 3901 Old Jacksonville Hwy, populates on the customer’s 

screen indicating where the customer is shopping and providing information relating to that 

location. In the image below, the webpage recommends the Tyler Home Depot in Tyler, Texas as 

the physical Home Depot store where the customer’s online shopping choices will be fulfilled.

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18. As shown in another screenshot of an online transaction conducted by a customer 

located in this District, when a customer residing in the Eastern District of Texas selects a product, 

the website directs the customer to a local store (the Tyler store in this example) in this District 

where the customer will receive that item. The webpage even informs the customer of the specific 

location within the store in this District, e.g., the aisle and bay in the aisle (Aisle 14, Bay 012 in 

the image below) where that product will be located within the store for the customer to retrieve 

it.

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19. The Home Depot stores, and the computers located in these stores in this District 

not only provide relevant details regarding the location of particular products in the stores, but also 

displays the available products and amount in stock all as part of Home Depot’s infringement of 

the patents-in-suit. This product information originates from Home Depot’s stores located in this 

District, and also as part of Home Depot’s infringement of the patents-in-suit in this District.

20. Home Depot’s in-store servers located in this District and/or edge servers controlled 

by Home Depot located in this District and elsewhere in Texas process information about products 

in this District so they can be delivered to customers in this District all constituting material 

conduct that is part of and constitutes Home Depot’s infringement of the patented shopping system 

and techniques.

21. On information and belief, as shown above, Home Depot operates and/or contracts 

with third parties to operate in-store servers and/or edge servers in this District to process and 

collect information about the searches and purchases made from customers’ devices located in this 

District constituting material conduct as part of and constitutes Home Depot’s infringement of the 

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patented shopping system and techniques.

22. Those in-store servers and/or edge servers located in this District are used to 

commit and participate in Home Depot’s infringement of the claims of the ’823 Patent because,

inter alia, they have one or more processors configured to:

receive a network resource request from a client device, wherein the network 

resource request corresponds to a first cookie of a first type that was caused to be 

stored to the client device during a first previous network session, wherein the first 

cookie of the first type was caused to be stored to the client device at least in part 

by causing the client device to initiate a set of network resource requests determined 

during the first previous network session, wherein the client device initiating the 

set of network resource requests caused data representative of the set of network 

resource requests to be stored at the client device, wherein a second cookie of a 

second type different from the first type was caused to be stored at the client device 

during a second previous network session, and wherein the first cookie of the first 

type is stored in a first client device browser storage area and the second cookie of 

the second type is stored in a second client device browser storage area different 

from the first client device browser storage area;

as recited in claim 1 of the ’823 Patent, and to perform the corresponding step of “receiving a 

network resource request from a client device” in claim 6 of the ’823 Patent.

23. On information and belief, Home Depot and/or Home Depot’s agents’ in-store 

servers and/or edge servers located in this District have one or more processors configured to be

“based at least in part on the network resource request from the client device corresponding to the 

first cookie of the first type caused to be stored at the client device during the first previous network 

session, determine information that was encoded and stored in the client device,” as recited in 

claim 1 of the ’823 Patent, and to perform the step of “based at least in part on the network resource 

request from the client device corresponding to the first cookie of the first type caused to be stored 

at the client device during the first previous network session, determining information that was 

encoded and stored in the client device;” as recited in claim 6 of the ’823 Patent. This step is 

performed by, or is attributable to, Home Depot in the Eastern District of Texas and constitutes 

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infringement by Home Depot committed in this District.

24. Home Depot’s servers perform the step of “displaying an advertisement to the user 

based at least in part on at least one of the first quality level or the second quality level,” as recited 

in claims 1 and 19 of the ’402 Patent. This step is performed by, or is attributable to, Home Depot 

in the Eastern District of Texas and is accomplished by use of one or more servers and/or other 

computers located within this District and constitutes infringement by Home Depot committed in 

this District.

25. On information and belief, Home Depot or Home Depot’s agents’ in-store servers 

and/or edge servers located in this District also have one or more processors configured to process 

and collect information about searches and purchases performed on customers’ devices located in 

this District to perform the step of

determining, for a user associated with the user profile, an indication of interest in 

a first category, wherein the indication of interest in the first category is determined 

based at least in part on at least one of: (1) a second search associated with the user 

profile or (2) a second purchase associated with the user profile;

as recited in claims 1 and 19 of the ’402 Patent, and constitutes infringement by Home Depot 

committed in this District.

26. Home Depot provides software to client devices that run Home Depot’s software 

as part of the infringement of the patents-in-suit in this District. The Home Depot software that is

operated in this District includes, for example, the Home Depot application (“app”) that Home 

Depot provides to and instructs its customers in this District to download and operate on their 

devices, and JavaScript that Home Depot causes client devices in this District to download when 

customers in this District view Home Depot’s website, and customers use the app as part of the 

infringement by Home Depot in this District. 

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27. When a client in this District visits homedepot.com using a web browser, Home 

Depot causes that client to download JavaScript files (script files with a “.js” extension), such as 

the JavaScript file named “cookie-utils.min.js.” Below are screenshots showing examples of the 

JavaScript files that clients in this District download, and a screenshot showing portions of the 

code in the JavaScript file named “cookie-utils.min.js” that Home Depot provides, operates, 

controls, and causes clients to download in this District. After the client downloads the code, the 

client in this District executes that Home Depot code as part of, in furtherance of, and thereby

constitutes a material part of Home Depot’s infringement of the patents-in-suit in this District.

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28. Home Depot controls its software and the acts that client devices in this District 

perform when those devices execute Home Depot’s software. The steps and elements that are 

performed by, are attributable to, and/or are controlled by Home Depot in the Eastern District of 

Texas when client devices in this District run Home Depot software include, for example: “a first 

cookie of a first type that was caused to be stored to the client device,” “the client device initiating 

the set of network resource requests caused data representative of the set of network resource 

requests to be stored at the client device,” “a second cookie of a second type different from the 

first type was caused to be stored at the client device during a second previous network session,” 

and “information that was encoded and stored in the client device,” as recited in claim 1 of the 

’823 Patent, and similar limitations in claim 6 of the ’823 Patent; as well as “displaying an 

advertisement to the user” as recited in claim 1 of the ’402 Patent, and similar limitations in claims 

10 and 19 of the ’402 Patent.

29. Home Depot conducts business from and operates from at least the following 

locations in this District where online orders can be fulfilled: (1) 411 E Loop 281, Longview, TX 

75605; (2) 3901 Old Jacksonville Hwy, Tyler, TX 75701; (3) 2530 S Jefferson Ave, Mt Pleasant, 

TX 75455; (4) 4110 St Michael Dr, Texarkana, TX 75503; and (5) 3120 NE Loop 286, Paris, TX 

75460.

30. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Home Depot consistent with the Texas 

Long Arm Statute. Home Depot has committed infringing acts within the Eastern District of Texas 

giving rise to this action and has established minimum contacts within the forum state of Texas.

Home Depot conducts business in this District and maintains regular and established places of 

business within this District. Home Depot has purposefully availed itself of the privileges of 

conducting business in the State of Texas, and Home Depot regularly conducts business within the 

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State of Texas.

31. This Court has general jurisdiction over Home Depot due to its continuous and 

systematic contacts with the State of Texas, including through its operation of approximately 182

physical retail stores in the State of Texas, its targeting of Texas residents with the homedepot.com 

website, its ownership and/or lease of land in the State of Texas, and other business activities

throughout the State of Texas.

32. Home Depot is subject to the specific personal jurisdiction of this Court because 

RavenWhite’s patent infringement claims against Defendant The Home Depot, Inc. specifically 

arise from Home Depot’s acts of infringement in the State of Texas. Among these acts of 

infringement include directing and controlling the operation of the homedepot.com website using 

the patented inventions, and specifically targeting residents of Texas with this website to further 

the sale of products and services to those customers online and at Home Depot’s physical stores 

in this District.

33. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.’s presence and acts of infringement committed in this 

District are attributable and imputed to The Home Depot, Inc. for venue purposes. The Defendants 

have not maintained corporate separateness. On information and belief, the Defendants function 

as an integrated organization in the operation of the homedepot.com website and its retail stores 

and with respect to the infringing actions complained of herein. For example, Home Depot states 

in its annual report, “When we refer to ‘The Home Depot,’ the ‘Company,’ ‘we,’ ‘us’ or ‘our’ in 

this report, we are referring to The Home Depot, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.” See Home 

Depot 2022 Annual Report at 1.

34. Further, Defendants hold themselves out as a single business enterprise under the 

trademark “The Home Depot” in connection with the infringing actions without any apparent 

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distinction regarding which Defendant is performing those actions. For example, Defendants’ 

stores are branded as “The Home Depot” with no apparent distinction over whether the store is 

operated by The Home Depot, Inc. or Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. Home Depot touts the significance 

of its brand name: “Our business has one of the most recognized brands in North America. As a 

result, we believe that The Home Depot trademark has significant value and is an important factor 

in the marketing of our products, e-commerce, stores and business.” Home Depot 2022 Annual 

Report at 3. 

35. On information and belief, the President or COO of The Home Depot, Inc. is 

responsible for marketing and online strategy for both The Home Depot, Inc. and Home Depot 

U.S.A., Inc. The current CEO of The Home Depot, Inc., Edward Decker, served as The Home 

Depot, Inc.’s President and COO from October 2020 through February 2022. During that time, 

“he was responsible for global store operations, global sourcing operations, global supply chain, 

outside sales and service, and real estate, as well as merchandising, marketing, and online 

strategy.” The Home Depot, Inc., Proxy Statement and Notice of 2023 Annual Meeting of 

Shareholder at 21 (May 18, 2023), available at https://ir.homedepot.com/~/media/Files/H/HomeDepot-IR/2023/Proxy-AGM/2023%20Proxy%20Statement.pdf

(last accessed December 5, 2023) (hereinafter, “Home Depot 2023 Proxy”).

36. On information and belief, The Home Depot, Inc.’s Board of Directors is 

responsible for directing the operations of all of The Home Depot, Inc.’s subsidiaries, including 

Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. Further, on information and belief, The Home Depot, Inc’s 2023 Proxy 

Statement indicates that one of the qualifications and attributes required of its directors is ecommerce experience. Home Depot 2023 Proxy at 16.

37. Defendants The Home Depot, Inc. and Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. maintain regular 

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and established places of business, and a continuous physical presence within the District.

Defendants maintain stores located in this District, for example, located at (1) 411 E Loop 281, 

Longview, TX 75605; (2) 3901 Old Jacksonville Hwy, Tyler, TX 75701; (3) 2530 S Jefferson 

Ave, Mt Pleasant, TX 75455; (4) 4110 St Michael Dr, Texarkana, TX 75503; and (5) 3120 NE 

Loop 286, Paris, TX 75460. At least some of these stores are integrated into the operation of Home 

Depot’s website, as described above, to provide online information to customers in this District 

about the products in inventory and their physical location in the stores.

38. On information and belief, Defendants have committed infringement of the Patentsin-Suit in this District. Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271, Defendants infringe the Patents-in-Suit by the 

infringing acts described herein in this District. Defendants’ acts of infringement committed in this 

District includes, but is not limited to, Defendants conducting, directing, and controlling the 

operation of the Home Depot Website enabling customers to shop, locate items, and find a Home 

Depot retail store in this District where the customer can pick up products ordered through the 

Home Depot Website, or visit the Website for some other commercial purpose. Defendants 

generate significant revenue as a direct result of making the Home Depot Website available to 

customers in the State of Texas.

39. When customers who reside in the Eastern District of Texas purchase products from 

Home Depot, the stores located within the Eastern District of Texas work in conjunction with the 

Home Depot website, www.homedepot.com, to direct customers to stores in this District. The 

website also provides all the information necessary for customers to make purchases, such as the 

different types of products available, inventory, and location of the products within the stores. All 

of this information provided by homedepot.com is specific to the stores located in the Eastern 

District of Texas.

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40. Plaintiff incorporates the allegations stated throughout this Amended Complaint, 

including the paragraphs above in paragraphs 1 through 38 and paragraphs below in paragraphs 

40 through 130 in support of its allegation that the Home Depot defendants commit infringement 

of the patents-in-suit in this District and venue is proper in this District to address defendants’

infringement in this lawsuit in this Court.

PATENTS-IN-SUIT

41. U.S. Patent No. 10,594,823 (“the ’823 Patent”), titled “Method and Apparatus for 

Storing Information in a Browser Storage Area of a Client Device,” duly and legally issued on 

March 17, 2020, from U.S. Patent Application No. 15/706,556, filed on September 15, 2017.

42. The ’823 Patent is owned by RavenWhite Security, Inc., a Delaware corporation 

located at 145 La Sandra Way, Portola Valley, CA 94028. RavenWhite Security is a researchoriented cybersecurity company. It develops technologies that address consumers’ technical and 

ease-of-use demands. RavenWhite Security’s mission is to make e-commerce safer for consumers.

43. Plaintiff RavenWhite Licensing LLC is a Delaware limited liability company, 

located at 145 La Sandra Way, Portola Valley, CA 94028.

44. Plaintiff RavenWhite Licensing LLC is the exclusive licensee of all right, title, and 

interest in and to the ’823 Patent, including the right to assert all causes of action arising under 

said patent and to seek damages and all other remedies for the infringement thereof.

45. U.S. Patent No. 11,562,402 (“the ’402 Patent”), titled “Advertising Model”, duly 

and legally issued on January 24, 2023, from U.S. Patent Application No. 17/201,306, filed on 

March 15, 2021. 

46. The ’402 Patent is owned by Security Technology, LLC, a Delaware limited 

liability company located at 7 East 20th Street #12f, New York, NY 10003.

47. Plaintiff RavenWhite Licensing LLC is the exclusive licensee of all right, title, and 

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interest in and to the ’402 Patent, including the right to assert all causes of action arising under 

said patent and to seek damages and all other remedies for the infringement thereof.

’823 PATENT BACKGROUND

48. The ’823 Patent relates generally to client-server communications and causes a 

browser to store information in a browser storage area of a client device. More specifically, the 

’823 Patent discloses an advanced machine-to-machine authentication technique that stores 

encoded information at a client device on the basis of network resource requests determined by a 

server. Authentication has grown significantly in importance as e-commerce has shifted retail sales 

online and customer have a growing need to create online accounts.

’402 PATENT BACKGROUND

49. The ’402 Patent relates to improved advertising systems that enable tiered bidding, 

cross-selling, and retargeting in online marketing systems. Cross-selling is the notion of offering 

a second product based on a believed purchase of a first product. Retargeting (also known as 

remarketing) is the notion of reaching out to a user in response to a non-purchase and offering 

them a product.

COUNT I

(Home Depot’s Infringement of U.S. Patent No. 10,594,823)

50. RavenWhite incorporates by reference and re-alleges the foregoing paragraphs as 

fully set forth herein.

51. Home Depot has directly infringed and continues to directly infringe the ’823 

Patent by creating, maintaining, and operating its system of physical stores and computer networks 

(“the Home Depot system”) including the servers through which it operates the Home Depot 

website and allows customers to make online shopping selections that can be fulfilled at physical 

stores.

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52. Claim 1 of the ’823 Patent, for example, reads as follows:

A system, comprising:

one or more processors configured to: 

receive a network resource request from a client device, wherein the network 

resource request corresponds to a first cookie of a first type that was caused to be 

stored to the client device during a first previous network session, wherein the first 

cookie of the first type was caused to be stored to the client device at least in part 

by causing the client device to initiate a set of network resource requests determined 

during the first previous network session, wherein the client device initiating the 

set of network resource requests caused data representative of the set of network 

resource requests to be stored at the client device, wherein a second cookie of a 

second type different from the first type was caused to be stored at the client device 

during a second previous network session, and wherein the first cookie of the first 

type is stored in a second client device browser storage area different from the first 

client device browser storage area; 

based at least in part on the network resource request from the client device 

corresponding to the first cookie of the first type caused to be stored at the client 

device during the first previous network session, determine information that was 

encoded and stored in the client device; 

perform a first identification of at least one of the client device and a user of the 

client device using the first cookie of the first type, wherein the first identification 

is performed using the first cookie of the first type at least in part by using the 

determined information that was encoded and stored in the client device;

perform a second identification of at least one of the client device and the user of 

the client device using the second cookie of the second type; and 

perform a determination based at least in part on (1) a presence of a network 

resource request associated with one of the first cookie and the second cookie, and 

(2) an absence of a network resource request associated with the other of the first 

cookie and the second cookie; and 

a memory coupled to the one or more processors and configured to provide the one 

or more processors with instructions.

’823 Patent, 15:33-16:12 (claim 1).

53. Home Depot has directly infringed, and continues to directly infringe, one or more 

claims of the ’823 Patent, including at least claims 1 and 6 of the ’823 Patent, literally and/or under 

the doctrine of equivalents, by or through making, using, offering for sale, selling within the United 

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States and/or importing the Home Depot system.

54. The Home Depot system comprises one or more processors configured to use 

cookies and other tracking technologies on its websites when receiving and responding to client 

requests such as accessing web pages. Such tracking technologies are identified in Home Depot’s 

Privacy & Security Statement:

. . .

The Home Depot, Inc. Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-and-security-statement (last accessed September 11, 2023) (hereinafter,

“Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement”).

. . .

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Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-statement.

55. The Home Depot system’s one or more processors are configured to receive a 

network resource request from a client device, wherein the network resource request corresponds 

to a first cookie of a first type that was caused to be stored to the client device during a first previous 

network session, wherein the first cookie of the first type was caused to be stored to the client 

device at least in part by causing the client device to initiate a set of network resource requests 

determined during the first previous network session, wherein the client device initiating the set of 

network resource requests caused data representative of the set of network resource requests to be 

stored at the client device, wherein a second cookie of a second type different from the first type 

was caused to be stored at the client device during a second previous network session, and wherein 

the first cookie of the first type is stored in a first client device browser storage area and the second 

cookie of the second type is stored in a second client device browser storage area different from 

the first client device browser storage area. Client devices accessing the Home Depot’s website 

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receive network resources including cookies and other similar tracking data. For example, Home 

Depot’s privacy and security statement describes using multiple types of tracking technologies, 

such as cookies, web beacons, and pixels:

Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-statement.

56. The cookies and trackers used by Home Depot are stored in different locations on 

the client device, such as, for example, in Local Storage, Session Storage, Cookies, and Shared 

Storage. This is demonstrated in the image of the “Application” tab in Google Chrome for the 

Home Depot website, www.homedepot.com, below:

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57. The network resource received by the Home Depot system’s one or more 

processors corresponds to a first cookie of a first type that was caused to be stored to the client 

device during a first previous network session, wherein the first cookie of the first type was caused 

to be stored to the client device at least in part by causing the client device to initiate a set of 

network resource requests determined during the first previous network session, wherein the client 

device initiating the set of network resource requests caused data representative of the set of 

network resource requests to be stored at the client device. For example, Home Depot requires a 

user to sign into their account in order to purchase any products or services. Home Depot associates 

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unique identifiers with users as evidenced by their login identifier, as shown in the screenshots 

below:

Screenshot of email and verification code entry for a customer signing in, Sign In or Create an 

Account, Home Depot, https://www.homedepot.com/auth/view/signin?redirect=/&ref=null.

58. For example, during a first previous network session, if a user signs in by putting 

the user’s email address and either password or verification code (verification code shown above) 

into the Home Depot website, Home Depot’s servers will authenticate the client, which will cause 

a first “THD_USER” cookie to be stored on the client device, as shown in the screenshots below:

59. The THD_USER cookie is a base64 encoded string and is stored in the “Cookies” 

area of the client’s browser:

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60. The THD_USER cookie includes unique customer identifiers “logonId” and 

“userId,” which are seen after decoding the cookie in the following screenshot of decoded 

THD_USER cookie which uses base64 encoding:

61. The Home Depot system also causes a second cookie of a second type different 

from the first type to be stored at the client device during a second previous network session, such 

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as the “THD_CART” cookie. For example, if a user is signed in and adds an item to their cart 

during a second previous network session, Home Depot will cause a THD_CART cookie to be 

stored in the “Local Storage” area of the client device, as demonstrated in the following screenshot:

62. The THD_CART cookie is a JSON data structure holding shopping cart related 

information, which is different from the THD_USER cookie’s base64 encoded string. The 

THD_CART cookie also contains the same userId seen in the decoded THD_USER cookie 

(“0514...”). The first cookie of the first type is stored in a first client device browser storage area 

and the second cookie of the second type is stored in a second client device browser storage area 

different from the first client device browser storage area. For example, as described above, the 

THD_USER is a different type of cookie than the THD_CART cookie since at least THD_USER 

is base64 encoded string and THD_CART is a JSON data structure. THD_USER is also stored in 

the cookies area of the client device, whereas THD_CART is stored in local storage.

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63. The Home Depot system’s one or more processors are configured to, based at least 

in part on the network resource request from the client device corresponding to the first cookie of 

the first type caused to be stored at the client device during the first previous network session, 

determines information that was encoded and stored in the client device. A THD_USER cookie is 

a first cookie of the first type stored at the client device during the first previous network session, 

as shown below:

64. The Home Depot system’s one or more processors determine information that was 

encoded and stored in the client device, such as whether a user has previously visited the site,

based at least in part on the network resource request from the client device corresponding to the 

THD_USER cookie. For example, as shown below, a network resource request from the client 

causes Home Depot servers to determine information (such as a userId) that was encoded and 

stored in the THD_USER cookie. If the THD_USER cookie is deleted, Home Depot will 

determine that the user is not authenticated and force the user to log in again, but if the THD_USER 

cookie is present (as shown below), Home Depot will display the user’s account information 

without requiring a log in.

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65. When the user is recognized through information present in the THD_USER cookie 

by the Home Depot system’s servers, the user will see a “Welcome Back!” message displayed 

instead of a sign-in page:

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66. The Home Depot system’s one or more processors are configured to perform a first 

identification of at least one of the client device and a user of the client device using the first cookie 

of the first type, wherein the first identification is performed using the first cookie of the first type 

at least in part by using the determined information that was encoded and stored in the client 

device. For example, Home Depot performs a first identification of at least one of the client device 

and a user of the client device using the previously stored first THD_USER cookie.

67. The THD_USER cookie is tied to and can be used to identify the user because it 

contains the user’s userId. Home Depot associates a THD_USER cookie with at least one of the 

client device and a user of the client device with an email and verification code sign-in process.

The THD_USER cookie is persistent and unchanged across sessions on a user’s device. For 

example, when a user signs in with a valid THD_USER cookie, Home Depot performs the 

identification of the client device and a user of the client device. Because of Home Depot’s 

identification, a returning user is presented with a “Welcome Back!” message instead of a request 

to sign in, as shown below:

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68. The one or more processors of the Home Depot system are configured to perform 

a second identification of at least one of the client device and the user of the client device using 

the second cookie of the second type. For example, Home Depot performs a second identification 

of at least one of the client device and a user of the client device using the previously stored 

THD_CART local storage cookie. The THD_CART cookie is tied to and can be used to identify 

the user because it contains the user’s userId. Home Depot associates a THD_CART cookie with 

at least one of the client device and a user of the client device with an email and verification code 

sign-in process as its ID field contains the same customer ID as the decoded THD_USER cookie:

69. The one or more processors of the Home Depot system are configured to perform 

a determination based at least in part on (1) a presence of a network resource request associated 

with one of the first cookie and the second cookie, and (2) an absence of a network resource request 

associated with the other of the first cookie and the second cookie. For example, if a user attempts 

to view their cart, the Home Depot system determines whether the user can view the items in their 

cart due to the presence of the THD_USER cookie (the first cookie) and the absence of the 

THD_CART cookie (the second cookie). If Home Depot finds the THD_USER cookie (see, for 

example, THD_USER cookie verification) but does not find the THD_CART cookie, the Home 

Depot system’s servers will allow the user to view their cart page without signing in again, but 

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will re-download data to create the THD_CART cookie. For example, in the screenshots below, 

the THD_CART cookie is removed to cause it to be absent, which causes Home Depot system’s 

servers to download the THD_CART cookie to recreate the user’s cart.

70. In the screenshot below, the THD_CART cookie is present in local storage:

71. The THD_CART cookie is then removed from local storage:

72. During a new network request, Home Depot servers request the THD_CART 

cookie from local storage of the client:

73. Because the THD_CART cookie is not present in this example, the THD_USER 

cookie is used as one input in order for the client to request that the Home Depot system’s servers 

re-create the THD_CART cookie:

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74. The THD_CART cookie is then re-created:

75. Then, in the user interface, the cart appears with the items that were present:

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76. In contrast, if Home Depot does not find the THD_USER cookie, the Home Depot

system’s servers will not allow the user to view their cart. For example, if the THD_USER cookie 

is removed, a user attempting to view their cart will be met with only a request to sign in:

77. The Home Depot system comprises memory coupled to the Home Depot System’s 

one or more processors and configured to provide the one or more processors with instructions.

For example, the Home Depot system employs Nginx on its web servers, which requires memory 

coupled to the one or more processors and configured to provide the one or more processors with 

instructions. Home Depot’s website information confirms the Home Depot system’s use of Nginx:

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Site Info – Homedepot.com, W3Techs, https://w3techs.com/sites/info/homedepot.com (last 

accessed September 11, 2023).

COUNT II

(Home Depot’s Infringement of U.S. Patent No. 11,562,402)

78. RavenWhite incorporates by reference and re-alleges the foregoing paragraphs as 

fully set forth herein.

79. Retail Media+ is an advertising platform and service provided by Home Depot.

Home Depot has infringed and continues to infringe the ’402 Patent through its operation of Retail 

Media+.

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80. Claim 19 of the ’402 Patent, for example, reads as follows:

A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable 

storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

determining a first quality level associated with a user profile, wherein the first 

quality level is based at least in part on an estimate of a likelihood of an event, 

wherein the first quality level is determined based at least in part on at least one of: 

(1) a first search associated with the user profile or (2) a first purchase associated 

with the user profile, and wherein the determining of the first quality level is based 

at least in part on a unique identifier and clustering;

determining, for a user associated with the user profile, an indication of interest in 

a first category, wherein the indication of interest in the first category is determined 

based at least in part on at least one of: (1) a second search associated with the user 

profile or (2) a second purchase associated with the user profile; 

storing, in a record associated with the user, the indication of interest in the first 

category;

subsequent to determining the indication of interest in the first category, 

determining, for the user, that a need relative to the first category has been met 

based at least in part on at least one of: (1) a third search associated with the user 

profile or (2) a third purchase associated with the user profile; 

based at least in part on the determination that the need relative to the first category 

has been met, determining an indication of interest in a second category, wherein 

the indication of interest in the first category and the indication of interest in the 

second category comprise a sequence of related indications of interest;

in response to determining that the need relative to the first category has been met, 

determining a second quality level associated with the user, wherein the second 

quality level is determined with respect to the first category;

wherein at least one of the first quality level or the second quality level is based at 

least in part on a conversion assessment associated with the user profile, and 

wherein the conversion assessment is based at least in part on historical click 

behavior; and 

displaying an advertisement to the user based at least in part on at least one of the 

first quality level or the second quality level.

’402 Patent, 20:3-49 (claim 19).

81. Home Depot has directly infringed, and continues to directly infringe, one or more 

claims of the ’402 Patent, including at least claims 1 and 19 of the ’402 Patent, literally and/or 

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under the doctrine of equivalents, by or through making, using, offering for sale, selling within the 

United States and/or importing Retail Media+. The following paragraphs demonstrate how Home 

Depot performs each of the steps of claim 1 of the ’402 Patent and makes, uses and/or sells a 

computer program product embodied in a computer readable storage medium that includes 

instructions that perform each of the limitations of claim 19 of the ’402 Patent with Retail Media+. 

82. Home Depot operates a method using its Retail Media+ advertising and media 

network solution. Home Depot advertises that Retail Media+ allows advertisers to “connect your 

brand to our customers”:

. . .

Retail Media+, https://www.homedepot.com/c/Retail_Media_Advertising_Solutions (last accessed September 11, 2023) (hereinafter, “Retail Media+”).

83. Home Depot offers ad placements “on The Home Depot owned channels, including 

placements in-grid and in carousel for sponsored products, top of page banners, and customized 

email sends”:

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Retail Media+, https://www.homedepot.com/c/Retail_Media_Advertising_Solutions.

84. Home Depot describes that Retail Media+ “tracks customer interest via our 

website”:

Retail Media+, https://www.homedepot.com/c/Retail_Media_Advertising_Solutions.

85. In interviews, Home Depot describes that Retail Media+ operates “on-site,” “offsite,” and “offline”:

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James Hercher, The Home Depot’s Path To Becoming A Global Advertising Player, AdExchanger

(April 13, 2023), https://www.adexchanger.com/commerce/the-home-depots-path-to-becominga-global-advertising-player/.

86. Retail Media+ includes the Home Depot search engine:

WIRED Brand Lab, The Home Depot Doubles Down on Data Science, Wired,

https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-home-depot-doubles-down-on-data-science/ (last 

accessed September 11, 2023) (hereinafter, “WIRED Article”).

87. Third parties recognize the benefit of Retail Media+. For example, psfk.com writes 

that Home Depot uses Retail Media+ to “drive products that are mutually beneficial to Home 

Depot and its shoppers”:

Home Depot Turns Ecosystem Touchpoints Into Vendor Media Network, PSFK, (June 19, 2022), 

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work.html.

88. Similarly, moloco.com notes that Retail Media+ offers a “robust range of sponsored 

content promotions,” including through searches:

What are sponsored results & how do they work?, Moloco, (December 3, 2021),

https://www.moloco.com/blog/sponsored-results.

89. Home Depot determines a first quality level associated with a user profile, wherein 

the first quality level is based at least in part on an estimate of a likelihood of an event, wherein 

the first quality level is determined based at least in part on at least one of: (1) a first search 

associated with the user profile or (2) a first purchase associated with the user profile, and wherein 

the determining of the first quality level is based at least in part on a unique identifier and 

clustering. Home Depot determines a first quality level, such as, for example, the likelihood of a 

user’s interaction with a recommendation. Home Depot publishes the recommendation algorithms 

it uses on its data in, for example, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM):

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Walid Shalaby, et al., M2TRec: Metadata-aware Multi-task Transformer for Large-scale and 

Cold-start free Session-based Recommendations, in Proceedings of the 16th ACM Conference on 

Recommender Systems, 573-578 (2022), https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3523227.3551477,

available at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2209.11824v1.pdf (hereinafter, “Shalaby et al. paper”).

90. In the Shalaby paper, Home Depot bases the first quality level at least in part on an 

estimate of a likelihood of an event, such as a “click” or an “add-to-cart” event:

Shalaby et al. paper at 573.

91. In the Shalaby paper, Home Depot also describes that its objective is to “maximize 

the prediction probability of the next item the user is most likely to interact with”:

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Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

92. Home Depot bases the first quality level at least in part on a first search associated 

with the user profile. For example, Retail Media+ uses a search as one input to provide a product 

(and vendor) to a customer.

WIRED Article, https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-home-depot-doubles-down-ondata-science/.

93. Home Depot also advertises that it uses “past searches” when populating search 

results.

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The Home Depot Introduces Improved Search For All, Home Depot, (April 19, 2022),

https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/home-depot-introduces-improved-search-all

(hereinafter, “Improved Search Article”).

94. Home Depot also uses search history (“including past searches”) through its “vector

search engine”.

Alex Woodie, Home Depot Finds DIY Success with Vector Search, Datanami (March 15, 2022), 

https://www.datanami.com/2022/03/15/home-depot-finds-diy-success-with-vector-search/

(hereinafter, “Datanami Article”).

95. Home Depot also advertises that it uses “ongoing search data” when showing 

results to customers:

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Improved Search Article, https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/home-depot-introduces-improved-search-all.

96. Home Depot bases the first quality level at least in part on a first purchase 

associated with the user profile. For example, Home Depot describes that they collect information 

when a customer “[makes] an online purchase”:

Privacy & Security at a Glance, Home Depot, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-at-a-glance (last accessed December 6, 2023) (hereinafter, “Privacy & Security at a 

Glance”).

97. Home Depot uses this collected purchase information to, among other things, 

“recommend[] products”:

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Privacy & Security at a Glance, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-and-security-at-aglance.

98. Home Depot bases the first quality level at least in part on a unique identifier. For 

example, Home Depot associates unique identifiers with users, as evidenced by their login 

identifier, such as an email address or other identifying information:

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Sign In or Create an Account, Home Depot, https://www.homedepot.com/auth/view/signin (last 

accessed September 11, 2023).

99. After a user inputs their email address and password, web traffic shows that the 

user is associated with both an “svocCustomerAccountId” and a “userId,” as shown from the 

screenshots below of the traffic capture of a user ID token used to identify a user on the Home 

Depot website after login:

100. As another example, Home Depot discloses that it uses a unique identifier to 

identify users in its privacy policy:

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Privacy & Security at a Glance, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-and-security-at-aglance.

101. Home Depot bases the first quality level at least in part on a unique identifier and 

clustering. Home Depot has developed techniques such as session-based recommender systems to 

estimate the likelihood of an event such as a product click by recommending the most relevant 

item based on a user’s unique ID.

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Shalaby et al. paper at 573.

102. Home Depot determines, for a user associated with the user profile, an indication 

of interest in a first category, wherein the indication of interest in the first category is determined 

based at least in part on at least one of: (1) a second search associated with the user profile or (2) 

a second purchase associated with the user profile. For example, Home Depot’s session-based 

search recommendation algorithm determines customer intent (interest) in a category based on at 

least in part a previous search (a second search associated with the user profile) and purchase 

history (a second purchase associated with the user profile), among other things:

Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

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103. For example, Home Depot determines customer intent based on at least in part past 

user searches to provide search results:

Datanami Article, https://www.datanami.com/2022/03/15/home-depot-finds-diy-success-withvector-search/.

104. Home Depot also determines customer intent based on at least in part past 

purchases:

. . .

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Privacy & Security at a Glance, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-and-security-at-aglance. This is shown for example by the type of information that Home Depot collects, evidenced

by the Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement:

. . .

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Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-statement.

105. Home Depot stores, in a record associated with the user, the indication of interest 

in the first category. For example, Home Depot saves indications of interest in a first category 

through the user’s browsing history, search history, interaction with Home Depot’s website, 

purchase history, liked products, and reviews:

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. . .

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Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-statement.

106. Home Depot uses this indication of interest in a category (“the history of what we 

know about a customer”) to store, for example, a user’s interest in outdoor ceiling fans.

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Datanami Article, https://www.datanami.com/2022/03/15/home-depot-finds-diy-success-withvector-search/.

107. Home Depot describes a user’s indication of interest, for example, as a user’s 

“intent”:

Improved Search Article, https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/home-depot-introduces-improved-search-all.

108. The indication of interest from the sequence of items a user interacted with is also 

stored:

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Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

109. Home Depot, subsequent to determining the indication of interest in the first 

category, determines, for the user, that a need relative to the first category has been met based at 

least in part on at least one of: (1) a third search associated with the user profile or (2) a third 

purchase associated with the user profile. Home Depot determines whether a need relative to the 

first category has been met as part of optimizing search and ad results taking into customer intent 

including search queries and purchase history. Home Depot uses sequences of events including 

search history in the determination:

. . .

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Improved Search Article, https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/home-depot-introduces-improved-search-all.

110. Home Depot also uses a user’s purchase history to determine whether their need 

relative to the first category has been met:

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Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-statement.

111. In populating search results, Home Depot’s search engine recognizes that a shopper 

has a need for a next product and recommends that product to them:

WIRED Article, https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-home-depot-doubles-down-ondata-science/.

112. As another example, Home Depot looks at whether the user’s need has been met 

from their interaction history and recommends an item to the user based on whether that need has 

been met:

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Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

113. Home Depot, based at least in part on the determination that the need relative to the 

first category has been met, determines an indication of interest in a second category, wherein the 

indication of interest in the first category and the indication of interest in the second category 

comprise a sequence of related indications of interest. For example, Home Depot determines an 

indication of interest in a second category using a set of search queries. For example, if a need for 

a patio item has been met (past searches), the interest in a second category of five-foot downrod 

outdoor ceiling fans will be related:

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. . .

Datanami Article, https://www.datanami.com/2022/03/15/home-depot-finds-diy-success-withvector-search/.

114. As another example, the Shalaby paper shows that Home Depot attempts to 

maximize the probability of the user’s next interaction in a session, which would necessarily be 

based on a prior item’s needs being met. The interest in the first and second categories will be 

related by, for example, a probability formula such as formula (1) shown below:

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Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

115. Home Depot, in response to determining that the need relative to the first category 

has been met, determines a second quality level associated with the user, wherein the second 

quality level is determined with respect to the first category. For example, Home Depot determines 

a second quality level associated with the user considering a need relative to a first category has 

been met using determined customer intent, which includes product category and purchase history.

This is used to determine a second quality level to respond to further searches to present “the right 

product for the right customer at the right time, . . . right when they need it”:

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WIRED Article, https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-home-depot-doubles-down-ondata-science/.

. . .

Improved Search Article, https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/home-depot-introduces-improved-search-all. The determination of a second quality level is also described in the 

Datanami article, which provides an example of prioritizing products associated with prior 

searches:

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Datanami Article, https://www.datanami.com/2022/03/15/home-depot-finds-diy-success-withvector-search/. Likewise, the Shalaby paper describes how the prediction of future items is based 

on item attributes from prior sessions:

Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

116. As another example, Home Depot may recommend a lightbulb to a user if their 

need for a lamp has been met:

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Janani Balaji, Data Science Manager, The Home Depot, Knowledge Graphs in E-Commerce, Data 

Science Salon, https://roundtable.datascience.salon/knowledge-graphs-in-e-commerce

(hereinafter, “Janani Balaji Article”) (last accessed September 11, 2023).

117. Home Depot bases at least one of the first quality level or the second quality level 

at least in part on a conversion assessment associated with the user profile, and wherein the 

conversion assessment is based at least in part on historical click behavior. For example, Home 

Depot’s quality levels are based at least in part on a conversion assessment associated with the 

user profile, which is based at least in part on historical click behavior. For example, Shalaby 

explains that Home Depot tracks “the items a user interacted within that session.” In order to 

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maximize the probability of interacting with the next item (a conversion assessment).

Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

118. The M2TRec algorithm in Shalaby is compared against two common algorithms 

which recommend the user’s most frequent past sessions’ categories and the top items based on 

all metadata.

Shalaby et al. paper at 576 (emphasis in original).

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119. As another example, Home Depot may recommend a lightbulb to a user if their 

need for a lamp has been met, which is explicitly based on a user’s prior clicks.

Janani Balaji Article, https://roundtable.datascience.salon/knowledge-graphs-in-e-commerce.

120. Home Depot’s privacy policy confirms that it saves users’ interaction with Home 

Depot’s website:

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Home Depot Privacy & Security Statement, https://www.homedepot.com/privacy/privacy-andsecurity-statement.

121. Home Depot also uses Google Cloud to analyze its clickstream data:

The Home Depot: Helping Doers Get More Done Through a Data-Driven Approach, Google 

Cloud, https://cloud.google.com/customers/the-home-depot. (last accessed September 11, 2023).

122. Home Depot advertises that its conversion numbers are improved by Retail 

Media+, including through placements “in-grid” (search) and “in carousel”:

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Retail Media+, https://www.homedepot.com/c/Retail_Media_Advertising_Solutions.

123. Home Depot displays an advertisement to the user based at least in part on at least 

one of the first quality level or the second quality level. For example, Home Depot displays 

advertisements to users through its Retail Media+ system, including through placements “in-grid” 

(search) and “in carousel”:

Retail Media+, https://www.homedepot.com/c/Retail_Media_Advertising_Solutions.

124. Retail Media+ includes the Home Depot search engine:

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WIRED Article, https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-home-depot-doubles-down-ondata-science/.

125. As described above, a user’s first and second quality level are based on user 

behavior including search and interaction history:

Improved Search Article, https://corporate.homedepot.com/news/products/home-depotintroduces-improved-search-all.

126. For example, Shalaby explains that Home Depot tracks “the items a user interacted 

within that session.” In order to maximize the probability of interacting with the next item (a 

conversion assessment):

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Shalaby et al. paper at 574.

127. As described above, Home Depot determines a first or second quality level in order

to present “the right product for the right customer at the right time,” “when they need it”:

WIRED Article, https://www.wired.com/sponsored/story/the-home-depot-doubles-down-ondata-science/.

128. Upon information and belief, Home Depot has indirectly infringed and continues

to indirectly infringe at least claims 1 and 19 of the ’402 Patent in violation of 35 U.S.C. §271(b).

From at least the time Home Depot received notice of the ’402 Patent, Home Depot has induced 

others to infringe at least claims 1 and 19 of the ’402 Patent under 35 U.S.C. §271(b) by, among 

other things, and with specific intent or willful blindness, actively aiding and abetting others to 

infringe, including but not limited to Home Depot’s clients, customers, and end users, whose use 

of Home Depot’s website and mobile app constitutes direct infringement of at least claims 1 and 

19 of the ’402 Patent in this District. Home Depot’s clients, customers, and end users put the Home 

Depot system, including the computer program for implementing Retail Media+, into service, i.e., 

control the computer program and obtain benefits from it. These benefits include the targeted 

search results that the clients, customers, and end users obtain when they control the Home Depot 

system by logging into their accounts and submitting search queries. By causing the Home Depot 

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system, including the computer program for implementing Retail Media+, to process the login and 

searches and by obtaining the benefits of the results, the clients, customers, and end users use the 

Home Depot system and directly infringe in this District under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a).

129. In particular, Home Depot’s actions that aided and abetted others such as customers

and end users to infringe include providing instruction, support training, and services, and actively 

inducing its customers to sign up for online accounts.

See, e.g., https://www.homedepot.com/auth/view/createaccount; see also https://www.homedepot.com/c/customer_service; see also https://corporate.homedepot.com/page/contact-us; see also

https://www.homedepot.com/c/View_Pro_Directory; see also https://www.homedepot.com/c/pro_customer_support.

130. Home Depot does so knowing that its customers will commit these infringing acts.

Despite its knowledge of the ’402 Patent, Home Depot continues to make, use, sell, and/or offer 

for sale its infringing products thereby specifically intending for and inducing its customers to 

infringe the ’402 Patent.

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131. Home Depot supplies customers with a predetermined set of inquiries where

customers and end users fill in information to create an account:

Create an Account, Home Depot, https://www.homedepot.com/auth/view/createaccount/diy.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, RavenWhite requests the following relief from this Court:

(A) A judgment that each defendant is liable for infringement of one or more claims of 

the ’823 Patent and the ’402 Patent;

(B) Compensatory damages in an amount according to proof, and in any event no less 

than a reasonable royalty, including all pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the maximum 

rate allowed by law; and 

(C) A judgment granting RavenWhite such further relief as the Court may deem just 

and proper.

DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

Pursuant to Rule 38(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, RavenWhite demands a 

trial by jury for all issues so triable.

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Dated: December 6, 2023 /s/ Deron R. Dacus

THE DACUS FIRM, P.C. 

Deron R. Dacus 

Texas Bar No. 00790553 

ddacus@dacusfirm.com 

821 ESE Loop 323, Suite 430 

Tyler, TX 75701 

Telephone: (903) 705-7233 

Facsimile: (903) 581-2543 

Robert F. Kramer 

CA Bar No. 181706 (Admitted E.D. Texas) 

rkramer@krameralberti.com 

David Alberti 

CA Bar No. 220265 (Admitted E.D. Texas) 

dalberti@krameralberti.com 

Sal Lim 

CA Bar No. 211836 (Admitted E.D. Texas) 

slim@kramerablerti.com 

Russell S. Tonkovich 

CA Bar No. 233280 (Admitted E.D. Texas) 

rtonkovich@krameralberti.com 

Robert C. Mattson 

VA Bar No. 43586 (pro hac vice) 

rmattson@krameralberti.com 

KRAMER ALBERTI LIM

& TONKOVICH LLP 

577 Airport Blvd., Suite 250 

Burlingame, CA 94010 

Telephone: (650) 825-4300 

Facsimile: (650) 460-8443 

Attorneys for Plaintiff 

RavenWhite Licensing LLC 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was filed electronically in 

compliance with Local Rule CV-5(a) and served on all counsel who are deemed to have consented 

to electronic service on this 6th day of December 2023.

/s/ Deron R. Dacus

Deron R. Dacus

Case 2:23-cv-00423-JRG-RSP Document 24 Filed 12/06/23 Page 71 of 71 PageID #: 264