ServeCo Seeks Declarations of Noninfringement, Invalidity, and Implied License on a Mattress-Defect Detection Patent.

The parties and the court

The case is ServeCo North America LLC v. Gumersindo Martinez a/k/a George Martinez, No. 4:26-cv-00299 (N.D. Ga., Rome Division), filed October 6, 2026. ServeCo is a Georgia limited liability company based in Cartersville, Georgia. The complaint says Martinez is an individual residing in Centerton, Arkansas, is named as an inventor on the '781 patent, and purports to own it. Jurisdiction is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. 1331, 1338(a), 2201, and 2202, and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1391(b)(2). ServeCo demands a jury.

The dispute as ServeCo describes it

ServeCo alleges that Martinez helped develop the accused device, which measures the depth of depressions on the top surface of a mattress, while he was a ServeCo employee, using ServeCo's time, personnel, facilities, equipment, materials, and funds, and that ServeCo used the device openly for almost 20 months without his objection. It alleges that ServeCo terminated his employment for cause on August 21, 2026, and that on or around that date his counsel sent a cease-and-desist letter asserting the '781 patent, the first time he alleged infringement. It also alleges, on information and belief, that Martinez told several ServeCo customers that ServeCo infringes the patent.

The patent

U.S. Patent 12,618,781, titled System and Methods for Detecting Mattress Defects, issued May 5, 2026. The complaint says it issued from an application filed May 2, 2025 that claims priority to a provisional application filed May 7, 2024, and that its twenty claims include independent claims 1, 11, and 20, each reciting an elongate guide rail, a pair of support legs, and a control housing that slides along the rail and carries at least one measurement laser.

The counts

Count I seeks a declaratory judgment that ServeCo does not infringe any claim, directly or indirectly; the complaint's opening section says ServeCo does not infringe at least because it holds an implied license. Count II seeks a declaratory judgment of invalidity under 35 U.S.C. 103 and 112, including obviousness over earlier patents and publications. Count III seeks a declaratory judgment of implied license. Count IV, pleaded in the alternative, seeks a declaratory judgment that Martinez is equitably estopped from enforcing the patent against ServeCo's manufacture and use of the device.

Relief sought

ServeCo asks for those declarations, a permanent injunction barring Martinez and those acting in concert with him from asserting or threatening to assert the '781 patent against ServeCo or its customers, distributors, suppliers, or users on account of the device, a finding that the case is exceptional under 35 U.S.C. 285 with attorneys' fees, and costs.

The companion suit in Atlanta

On October 12, 2026, Martinez filed a complaint against ServeCo and four individuals in the Atlanta Division of the same court, Martinez v. ServeCo North America, LLC, No. 1:26-cv-05875 (N.D. Ga.), which the docket lists as a patent case assigned to Judge Michael L. Brown. He moved for a temporary restraining order on October 14, the court set a hearing for October 21, and on October 21 he filed a withdrawal of the motion without prejudice.

What to watch next

Watch for Martinez's response to the Rome Division complaint and for any order addressing how the two cases proceed.