Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 1 of 8
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
`AT SEATTLE
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`Case No.
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT
`INFRINGEMENT
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`DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
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`ZILLOW, INC.,
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`v.
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`TRULIA, INC.
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`Plaintiff,
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`Defendant.
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`Plaintiff Zillow, Inc. (Zillow) for its Complaint against the defendant Trulia, Inc.
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`(Trulia), hereby alleges as follows:
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`THE PARTIES
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`Plaintiff Zillow is a corporation duly organized under the laws of
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`1.
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`Washington with its principal place of business at 1301 Second Avenue, Floor 31, Seattle,
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`Washington, 98101.
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`2.
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`Upon information and belief, Defendant Trulia is a corporation organized
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`and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business at
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`116 New Montgomery Street, #300, San Francisco, California, 94105.
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`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
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`This action arises under the United States Patent Laws, codified at
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`3.
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`35 U.S.C. § 1, et seq.
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 1
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`Susman Godfrey LLP
`1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3800
`Seattle WA 98101-3000
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`TRULIA - EXHIBIT 1012
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 2 of 8
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`4.
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`This Court has exclusive subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
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`§§ 1331 and 1338(a).
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`5.
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`Trulia has sufficiently continuous and systematic contacts with this judicial
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`district and the state of Washington to subject it to the jurisdiction of this Court. Trulia’s
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`website, Trulia.com, lists properties in this judicial district and throughout Washington for
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`sale and advertises to users, real estate agents, home buyers, home sellers and residents
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`throughout Washington to buy and sell properties and search for real estate information on
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`Trulia.com. On information and belief, Trulia receives revenue from Washington
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`companies who advertise their products and services on Trulia.com. In addition, Trulia has
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`committed acts of infringement in this District, and continues to commit acts of
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`infringement in this District, entitling Zillow to relief.
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`6.
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`Venue is proper in the Western District of Washington pursuant to 28
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`U.S.C. §§ 1391(b), (c) and 1400(b), because Trulia has committed acts of direct and
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`indirect infringement in the Western District of Washington, has transacted business in the
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`Western District of Washington, and has established minimum contacts with the Western
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`District of Washington.
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`FACTUAL BACKGROUND
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`7.
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`Zillow launched its real estate information website Zillow.com in 2006,
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`revolutionizing the industry by offering users its patented Zestimate home valuation
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`(“Zestimate”) service. Consistent with its mission to empower users, the Zillow Zestimate
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`permits home owners and real estate professionals to update automatic valuations of homes
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`with additional home facts and information to refine the valuation. To date, more than 33
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`million homes have been updated in this way, or 33 percent of Zillow’s database of more
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`than 100 million homes, making the Zillow database substantially more useful and accurate
`Susman Godfrey LLP
`1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3800
`Seattle WA 98101-3000
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 2
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 3 of 8
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`for users. Zillow’s innovative Zestimates have proved very popular and have played a
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`major role in Zillow’s success and growth into the largest real estate website, and the most
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`popular suite of mobile real estate applications for smartphones and tablet computers.
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`8.
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`On February 3, 2006, Zillow applied for a patent for one of the innovative
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`processes that has helped drive Zillow’s success—Zillow’s process for using data input by
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`users to refine Zillow’s automatic home valuations. On June 28, 2011, the United States
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`Patent and Trademark Office issued United States Patent No. 7,970,674 B2 (the “‘674
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`Patent”) to Zillow, for an invention entitled “Automatically Determining A Current Value
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`For A Real Estate Property, Such As A Home, That Is Tailored To Input From A Human
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`User, Such As Its Owner.”
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`9.
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`Trulia runs another real estate information website, Trulia.com, and also
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`offers mobile real estate applications for smartphones and tablet computers, all of which
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`compete with Zillow for web traffic and revenue. Up until September 7, 2011, Trulia
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`offered no automatic home valuation service to users. On that date, Trulia announced that
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`it too would provide automatic home valuations and that it too would use input from
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`homeowners to refine those valuations.
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`10.
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`Trulia calls its version of Zestimates “Trulia Estimates.” Like Zestimates,
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`Trulia Estimates provide automatic valuations of properties based on “recent sales of
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`similar homes and home facts like number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, and
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`more.” Also like Zestimates and the invention taught by the ‘674 Patent, Trulia Estimates
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`permit and rely on homeowners to “claim your home” and provide additional information
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`about their properties to refine the automatic valuations. Trulia states on its website: “Our
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`estimates also incorporate updates from homeowners who claim their homes and enhance
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`the profiles for those homes on Trulia.”
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 3
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`Susman Godfrey LLP
`1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3800
`Seattle WA 98101-3000
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 4 of 8
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`11.
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`The invention taught by the ‘674 Patent is a key feature of Trulia Estimates
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`and it features prominently in Trulia’s own descriptions of the Trulia Estimate feature. For
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`example, when Trulia describes Trulia Estimates on its website, in the first paragraph it
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`states: “You can help us improve our accuracy by telling us what you think of your home’s
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`Estimate, and by claiming your home and updating its facts.” When Trulia launched Trulia
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`Estimates in beta, Trulia’s Head of Communications wrote on the Trulia website:
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`Trulia Estimates starts with a number built from local real estate info, including
`prices of recently sold similar homes, and collects inputs from locals – agents,
`buyers and owners – to ultimately improve the estimates in those local areas.
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`See http://corp.truliablog.com/2011/09/07/whats-it-worth-trulia-estimates-launches-
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`in-beta/. And when Trulia launched Trulia Estimates nationwide, Trulia’s Head of
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`Communications wrote solely about the homeowner entering data feature to educate
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`homeowners about how they could update the Trulia Estimate for their own home. See
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`http://corp.truliablog.com/tag/home-value/.
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`12. When Trulia first
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`launched Trulia Estimates,
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`it was obvious
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`to
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`commentators that Trulia was merely copying Zillow. Commentators accused Trulia of
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`being a “copycat” of Zillow’s Zestimate service and predicted that Trulia’s copycat version
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`might “ding” Zillow’s web traffic. Online Marketing Group reported:
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`Trulia is now jumping on the home valuation bandwagon, launching a beta version
`of what looks like exactly the same thing as a Zestimate, called a “Trulia Estimate,”
`for the San Francisco area. I don’t know if Trulia is envious of Zillow’s successful
`IPO, or if they are just trying to expand the resources on their site, but I wish it
`wasn't by copying Zillow to the letter. At least they are not calling it a “TEstimate.”
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`See http://www.onlinemarketinggrp.com/blog-entry/trulia-launches-its-own-
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`zestimate-copycatting-zillow-again.
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`13.
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`An independent technology news site called “GeekWire” published an
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`article about the similarities between the two home valuation services, titled “Trulia takes a
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 4
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`1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3800
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 5 of 8
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`swipe at the heart of Zillow, launches its own home valuation tool,” which explained that
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`Trulia Estimates threatened Zillow because it copied one of the innovations that helped set
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`Zillow apart from its competitors:
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`One of the key advantages that Zillow has held over its rivals is the Zestimate. Love
`it or hate it, Zillow’s automated home valuation service has helped snare curious
`users who’ve wondered about the current value of their own home or the
`dilapidated cottage down the street.
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`See http://www.geekwire.com/2011/trulia-takes-swipe-zillow-launches-home-
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`valuation-tool/.
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`14.
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`Property Portal Watch described Trulia’s new services and then noted: “Of
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`course, trulia.com competitor zillow.com has been offering its own estimates or
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`‘Zestimates’ since 2006.”
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` See http://www.propertyportalwatch.com/2011/09/trulia-
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`launches-value-estimates/. Mark Wellborn of Urban Turf noticed the similarity between
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`the home owner update feature of Zestimates and Trulia Estimates on the day Trulia
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`Estimates launched, stating: “Another interesting aspect of both the Trulia service and the
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`Zestimate is that users can provide feedback on the home valuations that will affect the
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`valuation in some way.” See
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`http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/value_added_trulia_launches_beta_version_of_home_
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`valuation_service/4104.
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`15.
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`On August 17, 2012, Trulia filed a Form S-1 Registration Statement with
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`the Securities and Exchange Commission in an attempt to raise up to $75 million. In its S-
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`1, Trulia highlighted the importance of its solicitation and receipt of homeowner feedback
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`in refining its automatic home valuations:
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`Trulia Estimate is our estimate of an off-market property’s value based on our
`proprietary analysis of relevant home data such as recent sales of similar homes and
`property facts. This search function allows users to conduct a precise search by
`street address to find our estimate of the value of that home. Additionally, home
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 5
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 6 of 8
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`owners may claim their home in our database and edit their home’s specific facts
`and details so that our proprietary system can revise its estimated value.
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`(emphasis added).
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`16.
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`Trulia’s blatant and ongoing copying of Zillow’s innovative approach to
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`home valuation infringes Zillow’s patent and Zillow is entitled to damages and an
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`injunction against further infringement.
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`COUNT ONE - INFRINGEMENT OF THE ‘674 PATENT
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`17.
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`On June 28, 2011, United States Patent No. 7,970,674 B2 (the ‘674 Patent)
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`was duly and legally issued for an invention entitled “Automatically Determining A
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`Current Value For A Real Estate Property, Such As A Home, That Is Tailored To Input
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`From A Human User, Such As Its Owner.” Zillow was assigned the ‘674 Patent and
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`continues to hold all rights and interest in the ‘674 Patent. A true and correct copy of the
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`‘674 Patent is attached as Exhibit A.
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`18.
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`Zillow has practiced the ‘674 Patent since 2006 by offering home valuations
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`to users called “Zestimates,” which are updated by obtaining information from home
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`owners about their homes.
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`19.
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`Trulia has infringed and continues to infringe the ‘674 Patent by its use of,
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`for example, the Trulia Estimatefeature, and by Trulia’s contributing to the use of, and
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`inducement of others to use, infringing features and services. Under 35 U.S.C. § 271,
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`Trulia is liable for its infringement of the ‘674 Patent.
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`20.
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`Trulia’s acts of infringement have caused damage to Zillow, and Zillow is
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`entitled to recover from Trulia the damages sustained by Zillow as a result of Trulia’s
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`wrongful acts in an amount subject to proof at trial.
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 6
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 7 of 8
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`21.
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`Zillow and Trulia compete for consumer traffic and advertisers. Trulia’s
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`infringement of Zillow’s exclusive rights under the ‘674 Patent will continue to damage
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`Zillow, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law, unless and
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`until enjoined by this Court.
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`JURY DEMAND
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`Zillow demands a trial by jury.
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`PRAYER FOR RELIEF
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`22.
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`WHEREFORE, Zillow prays for relief against Trulia as follows:
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`a.
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`Judgment that Trulia has infringed the ‘674 Patent, contributed to infringement
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`of the ‘674 Patent and induced others to infringe the ‘674 Patent;
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`b.
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`Judgment that the ‘674 Patent is valid and enforceable;
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`c. A permanent injunction enjoining Defendant, its respective officers, agents,
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`servants, employees, and those acting in privity with it, from further infringement of the
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`‘674 patent;
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`d. Requiring Defendant to file with this Court, within thirty (30) days after entry
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`of final judgment, a written statement under oath setting forth in detail the manner in which
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`it has complied with the injunction;
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`e. Awarding Zillow damages adequate to compensate for the infringement by
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`Defendant, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention
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`by Trulia, together with pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and costs under 35 U.S.C.
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`§ 284;
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`f. Declaring this case exceptional pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285, and awarding
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`Zillow its attorney fees;
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 7
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`Case 2:12-cv-01549-JLR Document 1 Filed 09/12/12 Page 8 of 8
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`g. Costs of court; and
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`h. Awarding to Zillow such other and further relief, in law or equity, as the Court
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`deems just.
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`Dated: September 12, 2012
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`/s/ Brooke A. M. Taylor
`Brooke A. M. Taylor, WA Bar No. 33190
`E-Mail: btaylor@susmangodfrey.com
`Jordan Connors, WA Bar No. 41649
`E-Mail: jconnors@susmangodfrey.com
`SUSMAN GODFREY L.L.P.
`1201 Third Ave, Suite 3800
`Seattle, WA 98101
`Telephone: (206) 516-3880
`Facsimile: (206) 516-3883
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`Counsel for Zillow, Inc.
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT - Page 8
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`Susman Godfrey LLP
`1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3800
`Seattle WA 98101-3000