Display Technologies, LLC v. Blu Products, Inc.
- 2:17-cv-00067
- Filed: 01/23/2017
- Closed: 05/16/2018
- Latest Docket Entry: 05/16/2018
- PACER
Docket Entries
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April 3, 2021
Display Technologies, LLC, an entity affiliated with prolific inventor and frequent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild, has pushed the number of defendants in its sole litigation campaign past 50, suing GM (6:21-cv-00240), Harley-Davidson (6:21-cv-00242), Honda (6:21-cv-00242), Toyota (6:21-cv-00304), and Volkswagen (Porsche) (6:21-cv-00230) in March alone. Infotainment systems are targeted, with these defendants joining several other vehicle makers in the campaign, including Aston Martin, against which Display Technologies has sought entry of a default judgment, with Rothschild providing a supportive declaration with an estimated damages range for that case.
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June 11, 2020
Display Technologies, LLC, one of many NPEs controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild, has sued AP Global (2:20-cv-05041), Faurecia (Clarion) (8:20-cv-01028), and Mazda (8:20-cv-01029), each in the Central District of California. A single patent generally related to wirelessly transferring media files between devices is asserted, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of media streaming products that feature Bluetooth connectivity: for AP Global and Mazda, the BlueSYNC BX speaker; and for Clarion, the Clarion Car Infotainment System.
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May 25, 2020
NPE litigation in the Automotive market sector during the first four months of 2020 was up nearly threefold from the same time period last year. Most recently, 21ST CENTURY GARAGE LLC and Sisvel International S.A. (d/b/a Sisvel Group) have taken aim at companies operating in the sector, but the year so far has seen new campaigns launched by plaintiffs ranging from relatively recent entrants to patent monetization (e.g., Quartz Auto Technologies, LLC) to established players (e.g., Conversant Wireless Licensing, S.à.r.l.), as well as additional cases filed in existing campaigns waged by inventor-controlled Omega Patents, L.L.C. and frequent plaintiff Leigh M. Rothschild. From wireless connectivity to more traditional automotive technologies, something about 2020 has drawn more litigation to the sector.
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August 23, 2018
Display Technologies, LLC, an NPE controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild, has filed suit against JVCKenwood (2:18-cv-07244) over the provision of certain Bluetooth-enabled automotive audio receivers—namely, Kenwood DPX792BH and DPX702BH. This campaign has been active since June 2015, with earlier cases focused on the alleged infringement by Wi-Fi-enabled digital cameras and related image transfer apps, as well as by media transfer/streaming software, by the first member of a two-patent family. Since January 2017, the NPE’s complaints have turned to the second patent in the family, targeting NFC-capable products.
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October 13, 2017
Display Technologies, LLC, one of the numerous NPEs controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild, has filed a new round of cases in its ongoing litigation campaign. The plaintiff’s latest two lawsuits accuse Gibson Brands (Gibson Innovations) (1:17-cv-01426) and Pioneer (1:17-cv-01427) of infringement through the provision of various Bluetooth audio devices. Both are alleged to infringe through the provision of portable Bluetooth speakers, with Philips also alleged to infringe through Bluetooth-enabled home audio devices such as stereos, and Pioneer through Bluetooth-capable home theater systems. These two complaints, filed in Delaware, are the first that Display Technologies has filed outside of the Eastern District of Texas, and the first since its case against HTC was transferred from the latter district in June due to the US Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland.
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June 20, 2017
Inventor Leigh M. Rothschild’s media transfer campaign is about to see its first transfer out of the Eastern District of Texas in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands (2016-0341). On June 20, Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne granted an unopposed motion to transfer to the Western District of Washington filed by HTC subsidiary HTC America in a case brought against it in January by the Rothschild-controlled NPE Display Technologies, LLC (2:17-cv-00070). That transfer motion explicitly cites TC Heartland and alleges that the original venue is improper because HTC America “does not have a regular and established place of business” in the Eastern District. The suit alleges infringement of a single media transfer patent (9,300,723) through the provision of Android-based smartphones offering Android Beam, a file-sharing feature that uses near-field communications (NFC) to initiate Bluetooth file transfers to another device.
Display Technologies began its campaign in June 2015 with a group of lawsuits against NVIDIA (2:15-cv-00998), Samsung (2:15-cv-01000), Sony (2:15-cv-00997), and Valve (2:15-cv-00999), followed by a second round of cases in October of that year against C&A IP Holdings (2:15-cv-01633), GoPro (2:15-cv-01634), JK Imaging (2:15-cv-01632), and Ricoh (2:15-cv-01631). Each of those defendants was ultimately dismissed with prejudice after months of uneventful litigation, with only the case against NVIDIA—the most recently dismissed, in July 2016—lasting over a year. Filed documents indicate that the suits against JK Imaging, NVIDIA, Samsung, Sony, and Valve ended in settlement. Those cases asserted an earlier-issued family member of the ‘723 patent (8,671,195), with the accused products including Wi-Fi-enabled digital cameras and related image transfer apps (C&A IP Holdings, JK Imaging, Ricoh, GoPro) and software allowing media transfer and streaming (NVIDIA, Sony, Samsung, Valve).
In January 2017, Display Technologies revived its campaign with lawsuits against HTC and BLU Products (2:17-cv-00067), LG Electronics (2:17-cv-00069), and ZTE (2:17-cv-00068) that each asserted the ‘723 patent, shifting the campaign’s focus to NFC-enabled devices. (Those cases were later consolidated under the lead action against HTC, with claims against the other defendants unaffected by the grant transfer for HTC.) The NPE then filed an additional group of cases against Canon (2:17-cv-00192), Nikon (2:17-cv-00193), Olympus (2:17-cv-00194), Panasonic (2:17-cv-00195), and Ricoh (2:17-cv-00196) in mid-March. Display Technologies voluntarily dismissed the cases against Nikon, Olympus, and Ricoh with prejudice earlier in June. Meanwhile, the cases against Canon and Panasonic remain in initial pleadings, with both defendants having been granted additional time to answer.
Display Technologies was formed in Texas on May 11, 2015, with state records listing Rothschild as its sole manager. The ‘195 and ‘723 patents form a family of two and issued in March 2014 and March 2016 with an estimated priority date in December 2007, naming Rothschild as sole inventor. Display Technologies is the ‘723 patent’s original assignee, while the ‘195 patent issued directly to Rothschild and passed between two other entities controlled by the inventor (LMR Inventions, L.L.C. to SRR Patent Holdings, LLC) before its May 2015 assignment to Display Technologies. USPTO records for that conveyance erroneously listed the plaintiff’s name as Digital Technologies LLC, with the entity’s proper name added via corrective assignment in July 2015. (While a since-dissolved Texas entity named Digital Technologies LLC did exist at one point, that entity was apparently not connected to Leigh Rothschild, with filings listing a certain Andrew Thomas as owner and director.) Similarly, the NPE’s June 2015 complaints listed the plaintiff as “Digital Technologies LLC”, an error corrected in amended complaints filed two days after the originals.
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March 19, 2017
Display Technologies, LLC, one of the many NPEs controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild, has filed a fourth round of lawsuits in the litigation campaign that it began in June 2015. Canon (2:17-cv-00192), Nikon (2:17-cv-00193), Olympus (2:17-cv-00194), Panasonic (2:17-cv-00195), and Ricoh (2:17-cv-00196) are the new defendants, each accused of infringing a single media transfer patent (9,300,723) through the manufacture and sale of cameras with near field communication (NFC) and Wi-Fi features, together with related file-sharing apps. This most recent wave follows four January suits, one each against BLU Products, HTC, LG Electronics, and ZTE.
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January 27, 2017
Display Technologies, LLC, one of the many NPEs controlled by inventor Leigh M. Rothschild, has rebooted its sole litigation campaign with four new lawsuits against BLU Products (2:17-cv-00067), HTC (2:17-cv-00070), LG Electronics (2:17-cv-00069), and ZTE (2:17-cv-00068). The companies are accused of infringing a single media transfer patent (9,300,723) related to the one asserted in previous lawsuits (8,671,195), which targeted makers of Wi-Fi-enabled digital cameras and related image transfer apps (C&A IP Holdings, JK Imaging, Ricoh, GoPro) along with providers of software allowing media transfer and streaming (NVIDIA, Sony, Samsung, Valve). At issue in the new complaints are Android-based smartphones offering Android Beam, a file-sharing feature that uses near-field communications (NFC) to initiate Bluetooth file transfers to another device.