Wireless Protocol Innovations, Inc. v. ZTE Corporation et al DC

The Federal Circuit has overturned an $85.2M damages award against Apple in its ongoing litigation with Quarterhill Inc. subsidiary Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN). On February 4, the appellate court issued a precedential opinion holding that WiLAN’s damages expert in a January 2020 damages retrial used a flawed methodology that was “untethered to the facts of this case”. This decision marks the second time that this same lawsuit has seen the reversal of a significant damages award, following a 2019 ruling from District Judge Dana M. Sabraw that threw out a prior $145.1M award for failure to improperly apportion the infringing features. The Federal Circuit also reversed a partial summary judgment of noninfringement from that first trial, among the other issues decided.

A Southern District of California jury has returned a $85.2M damages award against Apple in its ongoing litigation with Quarterhill Inc. subsidiary Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN). The verdict comes just over a year after District Judge Dana M. Sabraw threw out a $145.1M award in that same case after a mid-2018 trial. Judge Sabraw ruled in early January 2019 that WiLAN had failed to properly apportion the infringing features of the iPhones at issue and that the NPE had presented the first jury with a damages case that lacked a sufficient factual basis. WiLAN’s second, revamped damages case was then narrowed by an order excluding key expert testimony that the court issued about four months before the retrial, which ultimately saw the jury award a per-unit royalty of $0.45 multiplied by 189.4M infringing devices.

Brevet Capital, a private equity firm based in New York, issued a press release on February 11 announcing that it has purchased multiple entities affiliated with Leslie Ware’s PanOptis Holdings, LLC, including litigating NPEs Optis Cellular Technology LLC; Optis Wireless Technology, LLC; and Unwired Planet, LLC. While terms of the deal remain confidential, a recent disclosure in a PanOptis suit against Huawei—the NPE’s last litigation filed since joining the Marconi Group in March 2017—provides details about which entities are now owned by Brevet.

Quarterhill Inc. (as Wi-LAN Inc.; Wi-LAN USA, Inc.; and Wi-LAN Labs, Inc., collectively WiLAN) has filed a second case (1:19-cv-00941) against Motorola Mobility LLC (with Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.), asserting the same four networking patents at issue in the NPE’s 2017 case (3:17-cv-00365) against Motorola and its parent company, Lenovo. WiLAN’s new complaint targets some of the same products accused in that first case—which was dismissed without prejudice early last year—including certain models of Motorola’s Moto and DROID smartphones.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw activity in AIA reviews against a variety of familiar plaintiffs in September, including validity challenges brought in campaigns targeting wireless communications technology and mobile devices. Among the NPEs hit with petitions for inter partes review (IPR) in September were Intellectual Ventures LLC, which continues to pursue its existing litigation as it divests other parts of its portfolio; and entities controlled by Fortress Investment Group LLC and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited, both of which have kept up a barrage of new litigation asserting former Pendrell Corporation patents. Also in September, the PTAB instituted trial in IPRs against Quarterhill Inc. and an NPE related to PanOptis Equity Holdings LLC, and issued final decisions against private plaintiffs including General Patent Corporation.

A jury in the Southern District of California has awarded Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN) $145.1M in damages, finding that Apple has infringed two wireless communications patents through provision of certain models of the iPhone 6, iPhone 7, and iPhone SE. The asserted patents are among more than 50 that have been litigated in WiLAN’s wireless networking campaign, which has seen multiple trials and a number of settlements since its inception in 2007.

Quarterhill Inc. (then named Wi-LAN Inc.) underwent a corporate restructuring last June, after which it apparently failed to properly transfer rights to a group of networking patents it had asserted against LG Electronics (LGE) earlier in the year. Now, with its original case against LGE having been dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Quarterhill (as Wi-LAN Inc.; Wi-LAN USA, Inc.; and Wi-LAN Labs, Inc.; collectively WiLAN) has refiled against LGE, asserting the same four networking patents at issue in the original case (3:18-cv-01577).

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 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.

Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN) has added another lawsuit to the wireless networking campaign that it began in November 2007. Roughly ten days ago, the publicly traded NPE filed two lawsuits, one each accusing LG Electronics and Lenovo of infringing four patents (8,787,924; 8,867,351; 9,226,320; 9,497,743) through various mobile devices and laptops offering LTE connectivity. WiLAN has now added a suit asserting five different patents (8,457,061; 8,532,052; 9,332,572; 9,380,607; 9,420,573), not previously seen in litigation but from two families with other patent members asserted against other defendants in the campaign, against Ericsson (2:17-cv-00181), together with four wireless carriers: AT&T (AT&T Mobility), Softbank Group (Sprint, Boost Mobile), T-Mobile, and Verizon (Cellco Partnership). Infringement allegations focus on Ericsson base station equipment that supports LTE connectivity, identifying the Ericsson RBS 6000 series and the Ericsson Radio System series by name.

Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN) has added new lawsuits against LG Electronics (LGE) (3:17-cv-00358) and Lenovo (3:17-cv-00365) to its long-running wireless networking campaign, accusing the two companies of infringing four patents (8,787,924; 8,867,351; 9,226,320; 9,497,743) through various mobile devices and laptops offering LTE connectivity. These newest complaints come roughly five weeks after WiLAN subsidiary Wireless Protocol Innovations, Inc. dismissed its suit against campaign co-defendant ZTE (6:15-cv-00919) in light of an apparent settlement.

Wireless Protocol Innovations, Inc. (WPI) is picking up where its parent entity, Wi-LAN Inc., left off, adding new defendants and patents to a large and long-running wireless telecommunications campaign. In two separate suits, WPI accuses TCL (6:15-cv-00918) and ZTE (6:15-cv-00919) smartphones of infringing a group of four telecommunications patents, including one patent (6,381,211) that Wi-LAN has asserted in cases against Apple, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, HTC, LG Electronics (LGE), Sierra Wireless, and Sony.