Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC

Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC (VIT) has fired off another round of complaints in its sole litigation campaign, begun in 2016, over a single patent generally related to virtual reality entertainment systems. The Equitable IP Corporation plaintiff has sued Balfour Beatty (6:20-cv-01048), Black and Veatch (6:20-cv-01049), and Robert Bosch (Bosch Rexroth) (6:20-cv-01048) over the use and/or provision of “virtual and augmented reality technologies and services” in multiple contexts, including marketing and training. Seven of the nine cases from the last round, filed in July, have already been dismissed, with extensions of the service deadline granted in the remaining two suits, against DPR Construction and Schneider Electric.

Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC (VIT), an entity under the apparent control of Equitable IP Corporation, has hit Exxon Mobil (1:20-cv-00966), Gilbane (1:20-cv-01212), Hochtief (Turner Construction) (1:20-cv-00974), Jacobs Engineering (1:20-cv-00969), M.A. Mortenson (d/b/a Mortenson Construction) (1:20-cv-00971), and Siemens (1:20-cv-00973) in its campaign, begun in 2016, over a single patent generally related to virtual reality entertainment systems. Targeted throughout the campaign have been the defendants’ use and/or provision of “virtual and augmented reality technologies and services”. For example, the complaint against Exxon Mobil details the alleged use of VR technology to facilitate safety training among its employees; the Siemens complaint, the alleged use of VR technology in product development software.

Atlas Entertainment (1:19-cv-00429), Coca-Cola (1:19-cv-00430), GE (1:19-cv-00436), Honeywell (1:19-cv-00431), Mattel (1:19-cv-00477), and STERIS (1:19-cv-00433) are the latest defendants to be sued in the sole litigation campaign of Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC, an entity under the apparent control of Equitable IP Corporation. A single patent, broadly concerning virtual reality entertainment systems, has been asserted against each defendant sued in this campaign, which began in September 2016. Virtual Immersion accuses Atlas Entertainment of infringement through the use of a 3D live production system for performance capture (using the Simulcam technology developed by James Cameron for “Avatar”); Coca-Cola and GE, through their internal use of augmented reality systems; Honeywell, through its provision of an augmented reality headset for industrial use; Mattel, through its use of the Spatial real-time AR collaboration platform with Microsoft Hololens 2 (as recently demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona); and STERIS, through the use of virtual reality systems to provide a virtual showroom for its products.

RPX completed a number of acquisitions on behalf of its patent risk management network in March 2018, obtaining rights to the patents involved either to end litigation against its members or to prevent it in the first place. Acquisitions occurred within the E-Commerce and Software, Semiconductors, and Consumer Electronics and PCs market sectors.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw petitions for inter partes review (IPR) filed in large campaigns affecting a variety of market sectors in January, including the automotive campaign waged by Intellectual Ventures LLC; frequent plaintiff Realtime Data LLC’s long-running data compression and media streaming campaign; the USB device charging campaign brought by Fundamental Innovation Systems International LLC; and the mobile device campaign run by IPA Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of publicly traded Quarterhill Inc. The Board instituted trial in January for petitions against Realtime Data and in the sprawling, 12-year anti-malware campaign still being litigated by publicly traded Finjan Holdings, Inc. The PTAB also issued final decisions in January in IPRs against Realtime Data; ChriMar Systems, Inc.; and IP Bridge, Inc.

Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC, an entity under the apparent control of Equitable IP Corporation, has filed another round of Delaware suits in its campaign litigating a single patent generally related to virtual reality entertainment systems. The newest defendants are 20^th Century Fox (1:17-cv-01539), Caterpillar (1:17-cv-01540), Deere & Company (1:17-cv-01541), and Ford (1:17-cv-01542). The NPE’s complaints again accuse each defendant of infringement through use of “an interactive, real time virtual reality system”, providing links to various webpages (some of them appearing to be broken) that purport to demonstrate the each defendant has created a virtual reality experience (e.g., the Ford complaint containing a URL for an online video advertisement of Ford’s purported use of Facebook’s Oculus VR headset) or filmed in 3D (e.g., the 20^th Century Fox complaint containing URLs announcing the 3D/Simulcam filming of an X-Men movie).

International License Exchange of America, LLC (ILEA), an affiliate of Equitable IP Corporation, has added Nokia and subsidiary Alcatel-Lucent to its networking campaign, accusing the two companies of infringing five former Nortel patents (6,222,848; 6,578,086; 6,697,325; 7,158,515; RE40,999). At issue in the complaint are various types of enterprise-grade networking hardware offered by Alcatel-Lucent, including access multiplexers for DSL and fiber optic networks, routers, and switches (1:16-cv-01077). Nokia has already been dismissed without prejudice, on December 1, just over a week after the case was filed.

Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC has moved from suing purveyors of online adult entertainment to companies providing more general “interactive, real time, virtual reality systems”, adding Comcast (NBC Universal Media) (2:16-cv-01311), Hyatt Hotels (2:16-cv-01309), and TATA Motors (Jaguar Land Rover) (2:16-cv-01310) to the litigation campaign that it began in September. The NPE, managed by the president of Equitable IP Corporation, Erik Stamell, continues to assert a single patent (6,409,599), generally related to virtual reality entertainment systems.

Post Media Systems LLC has kept its sole litigation campaign alive, filing suit against SoundCloud (2:16-cv-01269) after a September settlement with iHeartMedia and an October settlement with Spotify. All patents in a family of five (7,069,310; 7,472,175; 8,015,263; 8,725,832; 8,959,181) are asserted in the new complaint, subsets having been asserted against the prior two defendants. The family generally relates to managing media files for playback over a computer network, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of their music and radio online services and related apps. Post Media’s is one of seven litigation campaigns, in disparate technical fields, initiated by entities managed by Erik Stamell, now the president of NPE Equitable IP Corporation, since November 2015.

As predicted, Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC, a Texas NPE managed by Erik Stamell, has launched a litigation campaign. This week, the NPE filed suits against three purveyors of online adult entertainment: Aplicaciones Para Realidad Virtual (2:16-cv-01025), Secure Live Media (2:16-cv-01022), and Txtme TV (2:16-cv-01024). The new complaints assert a single virtual reality entertainment patent (6,409,599) that RPX saw assigned to Virtual Immersion in February in an August 16, 2016 recordation with the USPTO.

During the second half of August 2016, RPX saw five patent transfers to NPEs recorded with the USPTO. The assignees were Virtual Immersion Technologies LLC (controlled by Erik Stamell, of Equitable IP Corporation); Clean Energy Management Solutions, LLC (a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC); an NPE created by IP Valuation Partners LLC; and subsidiaries of two publicly traded NPEs—Wi-LAN, Inc. and Pendrell Corporation.

High Frequency Trading Systems LLC (HFTS) has filed four new cases in the campaign it began in late 2015, asserting a single patent (7,231,363) generally related to electronically managing the exchange of financial instruments. Knight Capital (KCG BondPoint) (2:16-cv-13082), Liquidnet (2:16-cv-13077), MarketAxess Holdings (2:16-cv-13052), and MTS Markets (2:16-cv-13084) are accused of infringement through provision of online trading platforms. HFTS’s new filings provide just one example of the recent activities of its manager, Erik Stamell.