The case against the online documents service was brought by a man who claimed he was overcharged for an application to the US Patent and Trademark office. In an attempt to submit his application through the website, Simon Solotko paid a fee of $325 which the company charged for submitting applications whether it was filed using a Trademark Electronic Application Service (TEAS) or TEAS Plus. The filing fee for TEAS is $325 whilst TEAS Plus is $275. 

Class action

According to court documents, after being charged $50 more than the presented fee, he filed the suit alleging conversion, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. He attempted to seek damages for himself as well as bringing a class action for the 15,000 that he claimed faced the same filing fee.The court refused his appeal saying Mr Solotko did not demonstrate compliance with class action requirements nor did he show that Californian law applied to the other class members.