On 29 March 2021, International Business Machines Corporation filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against Rakuten, Inc. and a cluster of affiliated entities — including Ebates Performance Marketing, Inc. (trading as Rakuten Rewards), Rakuten Commerce LLC, Rakuten USA Inc., and Ebates Inc. IBM asserted five issued US patents — US6785676B2, US7543234B2, US7072849B1, US7631346B2, and US7076443B1 — against Rakuten’s website and mobile applications, bringing an infringement action before Judge Gregory B. Williams.

The case closed on 21 June 2024 when the parties filed a joint Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) stipulation dismissing all claims and counterclaims with prejudice. That mechanism — a bilateral stipulated dismissal — requires no court order and takes effect immediately upon filing. The with-prejudice designation is commercially significant: IBM cannot reassert any of these five patents against the named Rakuten defendants on the same accused products in any future proceeding. Each side agreed to bear its own costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees, suggesting no clear financial concession was recorded in the public record.

The 1,180-day duration — spanning from filing through fact discovery to dismissal — suggests the parties reached resolution only after substantial litigation investment, consistent with a negotiated outcome rather than an early nuisance settlement. The with-prejudice terms and mutual cost-bearing are typical hallmarks of a confidential commercial settlement, though no settlement agreement is reflected in the public docket. What drove final resolution — licensing terms, cross-licensing, or a strategic business decision — remains unknown from the available record.