The complaint

The case is Pay As You Go, LLC v. Sinch America, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-11461 (N.D. Ill., Eastern Division), filed September 18, 2026, ECF No. 1 (39 pages). The complaint demands a jury trial. Pay As You Go, a Wyoming limited liability company, alleges it is the assignee of all right, title and interest in U.S. Patent 7,013,127. The docket shows the case randomly assigned to Judge Thomas M. Durkin, with Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes designated.

What the patent covers

U.S. Patent 7,013,127, titled Systems and Methods for Employing "Pay-As-You-Go" Telecommunication Services, issued March 14, 2006. Claim 1 recites a method for affecting payment of telecommunication services: monitoring a user's use of the services at regular time intervals; communicating the results to a telecommunication services provider, which processes them and communicates processed results to the user; and receiving a payment from the user obtained from a transaction in which the payment is received at a point-of-sale together with an account identifier, data indicative of the transaction is received by the provider from the point-of-sale, and an amount equal to the payment is received by the provider from the point-of-sale proprietor. The complaint asserts claim 1 and devotes paragraphs 27 to 45 to arguing that the claim is directed to a specific technical solution. (Compl. paras. 9, 16, 27 to 45; U.S. Patent 7,013,127 claim 1.)

What the lawsuit alleges

Pay As You Go alleges, on information and belief, that Sinch directly infringed claim 1 in Illinois and elsewhere in the United States by performing the claimed steps through its usage-based (Pay-per-Usage) plan on the Sinch Internet service monetization platform, which the complaint describes as letting merchants charge customers based on consumption of services such as calls and messages. The complaint uses the Sinch Engage application as its example of the monitoring, reporting and payment steps. It alleges that the asserted claim is a method claim to which the marking requirement does not apply. (Compl. paras. 47 to 53.)

The single count seeks damages of no less than a reasonable royalty. The prayer asks for a judgment that claim 1 has been infringed directly and indirectly, an accounting, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. (Compl. Count I; Prayer.)

What to watch next

Watch for service on Sinch America and its answer or other response. Any case can end at any time, including by settlement or voluntary dismissal.