Rembrandt Data Storage, LP

An individual inventor has filed suit against Apple, Huawei, and TSMC, alleging that the three companies have infringed four patents (6,518,668; 6,924,226; 7,199,052; 7,282,445) generally related to semiconductor fabrication (1:17-cv-00189). In a single complaint filed in the Eastern District of Texas, plaintiff Uri Cohen accuses TSMC of infringement for manufacturing certain mobile Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) for Apple and Huawei using its 16nm and 20nm processes, with Apple and Huawei alleged to infringe through the provision of smartphones incorporating those SoCs.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board saw the filing of petitions against a host of publicly traded NPEs in February, including Acacia Research Corporation, Pendrell Corporation, Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN), and Xperi Corporation (f/k/a Tessera Holding Corporation), with challenges also filed in campaigns waged by Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV); IP Bridge, Inc.; Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited; and Monument Patent Holdings, LLC.

November 11, 2010- Rembrandt Data Storage, an affiliate of NPE Rembrandt IP, filed complaints against Seagate Technology and Western Digital for alleged infringement of two patents related to thin film head technology for disk drives. An article in eWeek notes, “Rembrandt has not specified how much they are looking for in damages, except that it should be a ‘reasonable royalty’. The hard drive industry is about $12 billion a year, and these are two of the largest vendors in the market.” The two patents-in-suit were assigned to Rembrandt Data Storage in July 2010.