Nissim Corp. v. Clearplay, Inc., et al DC CAFC

In 2004, inventor-controlled Nissim Corp. filed a first lawsuit to assert patents from its DVD playback portfolio. Just over a dozen years later, the NPE has filed suit, accusing Apple (1:16-cv-23841) of having infringed six of the 27 related patents (5,434,678; 5,589,945; 5,913,013; 6,151,444; 6,208,805; 6,463,207), all of which appear to have since expired, through the past sale of computing devices capable of playing DVDs according to certain specifications adopted by the industry in December 1997. Max Abecassis, the sole named inventor on the patents-in-suit, cites licenses taken by over 100 companies and has litigated subsets of them in long stretches against ClearPlay, Time Warner, and three Hollywood studios, the last of which ended this past June while an Alice-related motion remained pending.

Nissim Corp. filed suit against Samsung (9:12-cv-80813), alleging that Samsung’s DVD and Blu-ray players infringe six patents related to the presentation, playback, and menu interface for video content. Nissim has filed three prior suits since May 2004, against Clearplay, Time Warner, Warner Brothers Entertainment, and Warner Home Video. The patents-in-suit were developed by inventor Max Abecassis and assigned to Nissim between 1997 and 2000. Abecassis is the president and CEO of Nissim. According to the company’s website, Nissim has more than 70 licensees. 7/31, Southern District of Florida.