Maxlinear Incorporated

Entropic Communications, LLC has filed a second case against AT&T (DirecTV) (2:23-cv-05253), over the provision of DVRs that allegedly “serv[e] as nodes operating with data connections compliant with” versions 1.0, 1.1, and/or 2.0 of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) standards. AT&T and DirecTV are already Entropic defendants, sued in 2022 over the provision of satellite television services. Entropic Communications has now filed more than one complaint against each defendant in this litigation: AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, and DISH Network, the last of which has asked Central District of California Judge John W. Holcomb to order Entropic to fully comply with Local Rule 7.1-1, which requires litigants to file a certified list of all parties that may have a pecuniary interest in the outcome of their litigation.  

USPTO records indicate that earlier this year, a Canadian university assigned a portfolio of patents to an entity formed in Delaware—which public records filed in that state tie to FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC). If past patterns hold, a new Fortress-controlled litigation campaign is likely imminent.

This past week, Entropic Communications, LLC fired off a set of new complaints targeting existing defendants Charter Communications (2:22-cv-00050, 2:22-cv-00051, 2:22-cv-00052) in the Eastern District of Texas and DISH Network (2:23-cv-01043) in the Central District of California; and two apiece targeting new defendants Comcast (2:22-cv-01048, 2:22-cv-01050) and Cox Communications (2:22-cv-01047, 2:22-cv-01049), all in the Central District of California as well. The latter forum is where Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap already (last October) transferred the first suits in this campaign, filed separately in March 2022 against AT&T (DirecTV) and DISH. The suits are consolidated there, with the case against AT&T as lead, the expanded campaign now concerning more than 20 patents developed by either Entropic Communications Inc. (ECI, characterized by the plaintiff as its predecessor-in-interest “as to the patents-in-suit”) or MaxLinear (which acquired ECI in 2015).

Entropic Communications, LLC has expanded the campaign that it began with March 2022 cases against AT&T (DirectTV) and DISH Network with another suit, also filed in the Eastern District of Texas, this one both hitting Charter Communications (Spectrum) (2:22-cv-00125) and adding five patents to the litigation. Infringement allegations in the new complaint focus on the provision of “cable television and internet services”, including cable modems and set-top boxes. Texas state records tie the plaintiff to a familiar force in patent monetization circles.

Entropic Communications, LLC has filed its first lawsuits to date, hitting AT&T (with subsidiary DirectTV) (2:22-cv-00075) and DISH Network (2:22-cv-00076) in the Eastern District of Texas over patents received from MaxLinear. The asserted patents generally relate to satellite and cable technology and moved from MaxLinear to the plaintiff last year in an transaction that hinted at the involvement of Fortress Investment Group LLC—a relationship since confirmed by public records.