Maxon, LLC v. LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc.

Inventor-controlled NPE Maxon LLC has added Funai (1:16-cv-07685) to its smart TV campaign, accusing the company of infringing a family of four patents (7,171,194; 7,486,649; 7,489,671; 8,989,160) generally related to dynamically associating a telephone number to a device based on a unique identifier (other than the telephone number) associated with the device. Maxon’s first round of lawsuits were filed on June 29, 2016 and asserted the same group of patents against LG Electronics (LGE) (1:16-cv-06840), On Corp. (1:16-cv-06841), Panasonic (1:16-cv-06843), Sanyo (1:16-cv-06845), and Vizio (1:16-cv-06846). Like its fellow defendants, Funai is targeted for offering network-enabled TVs that use authentication services to log into services like Netflix. Maxon’s June lawsuits remain in initial pleadings.

Maxon LLC, an NPE controlled by a family of inventors, has started a new campaign targeting smart TV makers, asserting a family of four patents (7,171,194; 7,486,649; 7,489,671; 8,989,160) generally related to dynamically assigning a telephone number to a device based on a unique identifier (other than the telephone number) associated with the device. The entity has sued LG Electronics (LGE) (1:16-cv-06840), On Corp. (1:16-cv-06841), Panasonic (1:16-cv-06843), Sanyo (1:16-cv-06845), and Vizio (1:16-cv-06846), accusing each of infringement through the authentication systems used by their network-enabled TVs to log into services such as Netflix (which is mentioned in each of Maxon’s complaints, but not named as a defendant). These lawsuits are the NPE’s first to date, and Maxon’s campaign marks the first time that the patents-in-suit have been asserted in litigation.