Intellectual Ventures II LLC v. Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. et al

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw activity in a variety of notable campaigns throughout February 2018, with petitions for inter partes review (IPR) filed against publicly traded Quarterhill Inc. as well as Fundamental Innovation Systems International LLC, Intellectual Ventures LLC, Realtime Data LLC, and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited. The Board also instituted trial in February for IPRs against General Patent Corporation, Oyster Optics, LLC, and Uniloc. In addition, the PTAB issued final decisions throughout February in IPRs against a range of different patent owners, including publicly traded NPEs (Acacia Research Corporation; InterDigital, Inc.; and VirnetX Inc.), an individual inventor (Daniel L. Flamm), and privately held plaintiffs (ChanBond, LLC; Makor Issues & Rights Ltd.; Papst Licensing GmbH & Company Kg; and Personalized Media Communications, LLC).

The past two years have seen a dip in US litigation filed by Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), which started only one new American campaign in 2017 and none the year before. However, available court records indicate that an offshoot of one of the NPE’s oldest remaining US campaigns—started in 2011 and targeting a host of wireless carriers—also remains active in Germany. Filed documents indicate that appeal hearings were held as recently as January 24 in cases against European carriers Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Vodafone. The related US campaign is one of just two in which IV filed new litigation in 2017, during which time the NPE accelerated the pace of divestitures from its massive portfolio.

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.

In March of this year, Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) launched its first litigation campaign since 2015, asserting up to five automotive component patents before the International Trade Commission (ITC) (as well as in companion suits filed in the District of Delaware) against automakers BMW, Honda, and Toyota and auto parts manufacturers Aisin Seiko, DENSO, Mitsuba, and Nidec. By August, the fledgling campaign had fallen apart, with Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord granting a respondent motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. ALJ Lord ruled that a 2012 assignment of the patents-in-suit from Encap Technologies to an IV affiliate conveyed no rights because Encap Technologies had merged out of existence four years earlier, into Encap Holdings. All of the March actions have been dismissed, IV has now recorded new assignments of the patents asserted, and its subsidiary Intellectual Ventures II LLC (IV II) has filed new complaints with the ITC (337-TA-1073), in the Central District of California (against Honda in 2:17-cv-07681 and against Toyota in 2:17-cv-07680), and in the District of New Jersey (against BMW in 2:17-cv-08870), asserting up to the same five patents against the same seven companies.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continued to see petitions for AIA review filed against prolific litigants in July, including a wave of petitions against Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited across four separate campaigns, with petitions also brought against General Patent Corporation, Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), Papst Licensing GmbH & Company Kg, and Quarterhill Inc. Meanwhile, throughout July, the Board instituted trial for inter partes reviews (IPRs) filed in semiconductor campaigns waged by Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology, with trial also instituted in campaigns related to network data compression (Realtime Data LLC), servers and data management (IV), and anti-malware technology (Finjan Holdings, Inc.). Final decisions issued by the Board in July included one that cancelled claims from a patent that has been asserted by Rothschild Connected Devices Innovations, LLC, an NPE controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild, against more than 60 defendants.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw petitions for AIA review filed against a variety of prolific litigants in June 2017, including General Patent Corporation, Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.), Realtime Data LLC, Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited, and Xperi Corporation (f/k/a Tessera Holding Corporation). Also in June, the PTAB instituted trial for petitions brought against patents asserted in a variety of sprawling campaigns, including some waged by Acacia Research Corporation, IV, Papst Licensing, Quarterhill, and VirnetX Inc. The Board further issued final decisions throughout June in AIA reviews against patents involved in several notable campaigns, including some waged by Document Security Systems, Inc., Elm 3DS Innovations LLC, Empire IP LLC, and Quarterhill.

Intellectual Ventures II LLC (IV II) has initiated a new automotive campaign, filing seven new lawsuits asserting up to five patents (7,067,944; 7,067,952; 7,154,200; 7,683,509; 7,928,348) generally related to various aspects of electric motors. The NPE has accused both Honda (1:17-cv-00294) and Toyota (1:17-cv-00300) of infringing all five patents through various components of their automobiles (e.g. water pumps, steering units), and it has accused BMW (1:17-cv-00296) of infringing the ‘944 and ‘200 patents through the manufacture of its turbo actuator. Aisin Seiko (1:17-cv-00295) is accused of infringement through the manufacture and sale of certain water pumps for either Honda or Toyota, and DENSO (1:17-cv-00297), Mitsuba (1:17-cv-00298), and Nidec (1:17-cv-00299) are each accused of infringing the ‘952 patent, DENSO for power steering units supplied to Toyota, Nidec for steering gear made for Honda, and Mitsuba for power steering units for Honda.