With so many patents out there claiming rights to basic Web-based technologies, at this point there aren't many businesses in America that are unaffected by so-called "patent trolls." But one troll, ArrivalStar, found a fresh set of targets that earned it serious scorn: public transit systems.

Many of its hundreds of lawsuits have ended without much of a fight; King County Metro Transit (Seattle) paid $80,000 to avoid a lengthy and expensive patent lawsuit. Other cities paid similar amounts.

ArrivalStar doesn't want to litigate; it wants fast cash. The company has never taken a case to trial, and last year it admitted it had only seen one case through to the early "claim construction" phase.

Now, after suing hundreds of companies and transit systems, ArrivalStar is finally being challenged by an opponent that won't give up easily. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has teamed up with the Public Patent Foundation (PubPat) to finally stop the patent attacks on vulnerable transit systems. On Tuesday, APTA and PubPat have sued to knock out the ArrivalStar patents.

"Public transit systems have been improving the customer experience by providing real-time schedule and travel information to riders," said APTA Chief Counsel James LaRusch. "These systems, which are operating under severe financial constraints, are being saddled with these outrageous harassment claims that are a waste of time and money. This must be stopped."

ArrivalStar claims that its patents covered the basics of vehicle tracking, across a huge array of different software and systems used. The company's founder and inventor, Martin Kelly Jones, says he thought up the basics of vehicle tracking and notification with a telephone-based system in the 1990s; now he and his lawyers believe every company using online vehicle-tracking owes him a royalty.

The APTA lawsuit argues that in addition to the patents being invalid, the 11th amendment prevents patent lawsuits against public entities like cities, according to a legal principle called "sovereign immunity."

"In the midst of a struggling economy for government and citizens alike, where budgets are tight for everyone, the last thing public transportation agencies should be forced to do is pay unjustified license fees to patent holders making frivolous infringement claims," states the complaint. "Yet, that is exactly what several of our nation's public transportation agencies have already been forced to do as a result of a patent holder named ArrivalStar that claims patents on the idea of telling someone when a vehicle will arrive."

In addition to the lawsuit, APTA is taking political action. Congressman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) wrote a letter to FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez yesterday, the same day the APTA suit was filed. "PAEs have targeted public and governmental entities that are end-users of technology, including transit agencies, cities, public utilities, and the US Postal Service," writes Lipinski. Such litigation hurts taxpayers and "undercuts the purpose of the US patent system," he writes.

Lipinski asks the FTC to open up a Section 6(b) investigation into "patent trolls," a step which has actually already happened.

In addition to this lawsuit, filed Tuesday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an "ex parte" reexam request last year against one ArrivalStar patent. That reexam concluded today, resulting in 12 of the 14 claims in one patent being canceled. However, that result can be appealed, and ArrivalStar has multiple patents. A lawsuit like APTA's is the more direct and effective way to knock out bad patents, but it's also much more expensive; taking a patent case through trial can cost $2 million or more.

ArrivalStar has been a profitable enterprise. The company has received settlements from more than 180 companies. Some of the companies that paid up are listed in an ArrivalStar demand letter attached to the lawsuit, which is addressed to the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA). The licensees listed in the letter include transit-tracker NextBus, as well as Nissan, Volvo, United Air Lines, Chrysler, and FedEx. The letter threatens a lawsuit against TARTA unless ArrivalStar gets paid $150,000; it isn't clear how that case was resolved, and no lawsuit against TARTA was ultimately filed.