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Inventor-Backed Plaintiff Targets Mobile Devices with Multiple Digital Cameras
New Patent Litigation
C47 Technologies LLC has filed what appears to be its first US patent case, suing Samsung (2:24-cv-00372) in the Eastern District of Texas. The inventor-controlled plaintiff accuses Samsung of infringing a single patent generally related to image capturing and processing through the provision of mobile devices with multiple digital cameras “that enable users of the Samsung products to use applications and features including, but not limited to, Samsung’s Dual Capture, Live Focus, Portrait Mode, and Portrait Video features”.
May 18, 2024
Dueling UPC SEP Rulings Reveal a Mannheim-Munich Split over Transparency Issues
Top Insight
The launch of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) last June marked a new era in European patent litigation, enabling patent owners to enforce their patents in a single European Union (EU) venue with jurisdiction spanning 17 member states. As the UPC approaches its first anniversary, the court has played an increasingly prominent role in multijurisdictional patent disputes—including litigation over standard essential patents (SEPs) and disputes over their licensing on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms. Now, as some of the court’s first FRAND litigation moves forward, the court has begun to address some unanswered questions on SEP issues—in the process, revealing an apparent split between two of the court’s most popular local divisions in Germany, those in Mannheim and Munich, over the proper approach to licensing transparency.
May 18, 2024
Mubadala Completes Acquisition of Majority Stake in Fortress
Patent Market, Patent Watch
Last week, Fortress Investment Group LLC and Mubadala Investment Company announced that they completed the acquisition, on undisclosed terms through Mubadala Capital, “of the 90.01% of the equity of Fortress that was held by SoftBank”. According to a joint press release, Mubadala now owns 68 percent of Fortress’s equity, while Fortress management owns 32 percent, the latter “in a class of equity entitling Fortress management to appoint a majority of seats on the board”.
May 18, 2024
After Counterclaim Hammer Dropped on Ascend Innovation, ThinkLogix Sues VTech
Patent Litigation Feature
Last September, ThinkLogix, LLC filed its first case, suing Crestron Electronics (4:23-cv-00844) in the Eastern District of Texas over six patents from a portfolio of roughly 100 former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) assets. In response, Crestron filed counterclaims that also named Ascend Innovation Management, LLC (AIM); Ascend IP, LLC; and Mind Fusion, LLC as parties to the litigation, Crestron pleading that the veteran IV figures behind these entities structured them “as part of a basically unfair device to achieve an inequitable result” and that ThinkLogix “does not have sufficient capital to operate its business, including patent maintenance fees and satisfying any liabilities that ThinkLogix may incur during litigation from adverse decisions”. The suit against Crestron ended in a dismissal with prejudice before any response from ThinkLogix—or from the other third-party counterclaim defendants. Last month, ThinkLogix moved on, suing VTech (6:24-cv-00206), this time in the Western District of Texas.
May 17, 2024
Q1 2024 PTAB Institution Rate Hovers Between Last Quarter’s and Last Year’s
In Case You Missed It
A slight drop in the PTAB instituted trial rate in Q1 2024, from Q1 2023, comes as the USPTO moves closer to finalizing what could be the first in a series of planned internal reforms. The agency recently released a long-promised Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that includes new rules governing “serial” and “parallel” petitions as well as validity arguments previously addressed by the USPTO, also creating a separate briefing process for discretionary denials and requiring the filing of pre-institution settlement agreements.
May 17, 2024
In Three New Complaints, Emerald Lake Hills Ties Some Alleged Infringement Back to Amazon
New Patent Litigation
On the heels of its March 2024 case against Amazon (Amazon Web Services), Emerald Lake Hills, L.L.C. (f/k/a Emerald Hills Consulting, L.L.C.) has sued Arista Networks (1:24-cv-00517), Cloudera (1:24-cv-00518), and Shopify (1:24-cv-00519), all four suits filed in the Western District of Texas. A single patent broadly directed to processing “discrete business activity management (DBAM) commands” is asserted in the complaints, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of defendant-specific products as well as of “products and services through Amazon Web Services (‘AWS’), including infringing products and services utilizing AWS architecture”.
May 17, 2024
Funded Hardin and Hill Campaign Picks Back Up with New Plaintiff
New Patent Litigation, TPLF
H2 Intellect LLC, an entity formed in Texas under the management of Ryan Hardin and Andrew Hill, has resumed the litigation campaign that had been proceeding with Hardin and Hill as individual plaintiffs. Three patents broadly directed to a content delivery platform for distributing programs based on the geographic location of a device are asserted in the new Eastern District of Texas complaint against IBM (2:24-cv-00367). H2 Intellect targets the support of geofencing technologies in various IBM products, including the IBM Streams, MaaS360, Max Engage with Watson, and Maximo Manage platforms.
May 17, 2024
Another New Mexico Plaintiff Appears to Skirt Certain Northern District of Illinois Local Rules
New Patent Litigation
Following a pattern that has become familiar in early 2024, New Mexico plaintiff Navog LLC has launched litigation. A single patent generally related to a “GPS and warning system for an automobile” has been asserted in separate complaints targeting in-vehicle navigation and/or infotainment systems and filed against Panasonic (6:24-cv-00258) in the Western District of Texas; Rand McNally (RM Acquisition) (1:24-cv-04023) in the Northern District of Illinois; Trimble (1:24-cv-01378) in the District of Colorado; and Sygic (2:24-cv-00364), TomTom (2:24-cv-00365), and Verizon (2:24-cv-00366) in the Eastern District of Texas. Navog appears not to have complied with the local rules of the Northern District of Illinois in connection with the RM Acquisition case.
May 17, 2024
Delaware Plaintiff Asserts Memory Patents Against Cisco
New Patent Litigation
Cisco (2:24-cv-00360) is the second defendant to be sued in the litigation campaign that Delaware plaintiff Innovations In Memory LLC (IIM) launched earlier this month with a suit against IBM. In the new Eastern District of Texas complaint, the plaintiff asserts three patents described as “concerning improvements in memory storage devices and systems”. Cisco is accused of infringement through the provision of a wide array of products, ranging from its “MDS 9000 Series Switches” to its “Unified Computing System”.
May 17, 2024
GeoSymm Ventures Files New Round of Suits over Patents Picked Up from Allied Security Trust
New Patent Litigation
So far in May, GeoSymm Ventures LLC—an entity connected with a figure familiar in patent monetization circles—has added suits against ScienceSoft USA (2:24-cv-00338), Varjo Technologies (2:24-cv-00341), Walmart (2:24-cv-00342), and Zappar (2:24-in cv-00344), all in the Eastern District of Texas; Relinns Technologies (4:24-cv-01707) in the Southern District of Texas; and Trimble (1:24-cv-01274) in the District of Colorado. Relinns, ScienceSoft, and Walmart are each accused of infringing a single patent through the implementation of voice assistants in their respective products (i.e., chatbots and shopbots), while the remaining defendants are accused of infringing a different patent over products (e.g., headsets, mobile apps, and software) that support certain augmented reality (AR) functionalities.
May 17, 2024