Princeps Interface Technologies LLC

Princeps Secundus LLC has filed suit against Lenovo (Motorola Mobility) (1:20-cv-00318) in the Northern District of Illinois, completing the shift of the entire campaign out of Delaware, where initial cases were filed against Motorola Mobility, as well as Alphabet (Google) and Apple last summer. The initial plaintiff, Princeps Interface Technologies LLC (PIT), transferred the asserted keyboard patent to Princeps Secundus after those initial cases were filed—and dismissed without prejudice. Targeted throughout has been the defendants’ provision of mobile devices—smartphones, tablets, and/or others (e.g., Apple’s iPod)—with keyboard setup and selection features that allow users to switch between keyboards in various languages and/or a menu of emojis.

“Princeps” is apparently a Latin word meaning “one that is first”, making apt the name of the new plaintiff—Princeps Secundus LLC—to take over the campaign that Princeps Interface Technologies LLC (PIT) tried to launch last summer. Princeps Secundus has filed its first affirmative cases in the reboot, suing ASUSTek (5:20-cv-00205) and Samsung (3:20-cv-00201) in the Northern District of California. The suits join declaratory judgment actions there, one filed by each of Alphabet (Google) and Apple, in which amended complaints were filed to add Princeps Secundus as a defendant after the recordation of a set of November 2019 assignments moving the asserted “universal keyboard” patent to Princeps Secundus from PIT.

In June 2019, Princeps Interface Technologies LLC launched its sole litigation campaign with three District of Delaware lawsuits, one each against Alphabet (Google), Apple, and Samsung, about a month later adding another suit there against Lenovo (Motorola Mobility) and a suit against ASUSTek in the Northern District of California. A single patent—generally related to an “input device” that allows the user to switch between different input modes, including different keyboard types—was asserted in the complaints, a patent that RPX noted appeared to have been received by Princeps three weeks before the NPE’s actual formation in Delaware. In early September, Google filed a motion challenging the plaintiff’s standing at the time of filing, noting that “[a]ny assignment purporting to convey rights to a non-existent entity is ineffective”. Princeps has subsequently moved to dismiss all five of its complaints, without prejudice. Apple, which had filed an answer in Delaware, has now filed a complaint (3:19-cv-06352) seeking a declaratory judgment from the Northern District of California that it has not infringed that same keyboard patent.

Princeps Interface Technologies LLC has added cases against ASUSTek (5:19-cv-04298) and Lenovo (1:19-cv-01425) to the campaign that it began six weeks ago, suing Alphabet (Google), Apple, and Samsung in mid-June. The sole patent asserted generally relates to an “input device” that allows the user to switch between different input modes, including different keyboard types, with infringement allegations throughout the campaign focused on the keyboard setup features on mobile devices, as well as options allowing users to toggle between keyboards in various languages and/or a menu of emojis.

Princeps Interface Technologies LLC has launched its first litigation campaign, suing Alphabet (Google) (1:19-cv-01102), Apple (1:19-cv-01101), and Samsung (1:19-cv-01103) over a single patent entitled “Universal keyboard”. The NPE accuses the tech giants of infringement through the provision of mobile devices—smartphones, tablets, and/or others (e.g., Apple’s iPod)—with keyboard setup and selection features that allow users to switch between keyboards in various languages and/or a menu of emojis. Princeps Interface acquired the patent now asserted in a mid-April 2019 assignment from named inventor Timothy B. Higginson and Yuvee, Higginson’s former enterprise.