Blue Sky Networks, LLC v. Huawei Device USA, Inc. et al DC

Blue Sky Networks, LLC, an affiliate of Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, continues to expand the range of products accused of infringement in its sole litigation campaign. The NPE has sued Roche (Roche Diabetes Care) (1:18-cv-00368) over the provision of Bluetooth-enabled electronic insulin meters, together with “application software for communicating with them via laptop, smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device”. Blue Sky’s new complaint asserts five patents generally related to “wireless handsets” discovering and connecting to other such devices near them. Roche’s insulin meters join Fitibit’s fitness trackers, “in-dash smart services” in certain Toyota vehicles, and Verifone’s Bluetooth-enabled wireless point-of-sale (POS) terminals that connect to charging base stations, among other products, as accused devices across this campaign.

Blue Sky Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC and an affiliate of monetization firm Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, has filed two new cases in the campaign, one each against Fitbit (5:17-cv-06543) and VeriFone Systems (4:17-cv-06567). The patents asserted, received this past February from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), generally relate to “wireless handsets” discovering and connecting to other such devices near them. Blue Sky targets Fitbit watches and fitness trackers that wirelessly connect to Fitbit peripherals (e.g., Fitbit Flyer headphones) and/or nearby devices equipped with a Fitbit application, and as to Verifone, the NPE targets Bluetooth-enabled wireless point-of-sale (POS) terminals that connect to charging base stations. The two cases join the only other remaining, active suit in the campaign, which accuses Toyota of infringement through provision of “in-dash smart services” in certain of its vehicles.

In October 2017, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw the filing of petitions for inter partes review (IPR) against a variety of frequent litigants, including publicly traded NPEs Acacia Research Corporation and Xperi Corporation, as well as privately held Monument Patent Holdings, LLC and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited. The Board also instituted trial in October for IPRs against multiple Acacia subsidiaries, Uniloc, and Papst Licensing GmbH & Company Kg. In addition, the PTAB issued an IPR final decision cancelling multiple claims from a data compression patent held by prolific plaintiff Realtime Data LLC, including the single claim that Riverbed Technology (one of the petitioners for the IPR) was found to infringe in a $4.3M verdict in May, with other final decisions issued in campaigns waged by TQ Delta LLC and publicly traded Quarterhill Inc. IPRs against IP Bridge, Inc. and Mobile Telecommunications Technologies, LLC also ended in termination in October after the patent owners requested adverse judgments.

Blue Sky Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, has added a new suit, against Best Buy (1:17-cv-00750), to the campaign that it began this past February. Best Buy is accused of infringement through the provision of a variety of Bluetooth-compatible products, including laptops and desktops, smartphones and tablets, car stereos, wireless headphones and speakers, cameras, and computer peripherals, among others. Earlier accused products have included certain computing devices capable of LTE-compliant communications, mobile devices using Bluetooth to discover nearby devices, the chips inside such devices, and in-vehicle infotainment systems. The new complaint asserts the same eight patents already asserted in the campaign, adding a ninth patent related to one of the two families at issue.

Blue Sky Networks, LLC has added the connectivity features of in-vehicle infotainment systems to the accused products of its sole litigation campaign. A new complaint against Toyota (6:17-cv-00435) asserts six (6,088,398; 6,484,027; 6,865,372; 8,019,381; 8,265,691; 8,346,169) of the eight patents already in suit against the carmaker’s Entune, described as the “in-dash smart service” within certain Toyota models, as well as MobileLink in Lexus vehicles. Earlier accused products have been certain mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and wearables based on LTE-compliant communications (with respect to the ‘398 patent) and certain mobile phones based on their use of Bluetooth to discover nearby devices (e.g. a headset) for communication (with respect to the others), as well as the chipsets within those devices.

Blue Sky Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, has expanded the campaign that it began this past February by filing suit against MediaTek (1:17-cv-00656) in the Western District of Texas. The new complaint asserts the same eight patents (6,088,398; 6,484,027; 6,865,372; 7,693,542; 7,885,684; 8,019,381; 8,265,691; 8,346,169) already at issue in the campaign, all eight of them having been previously asserted against current defendants BLU Products, Huawei, and Lenovo. The accused products have been certain mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and wearables based on LTE-compliant communications (with respect to the ‘398 patent) and certain mobile phones based on their use of Bluetooth to discover nearby devices (e.g. a headset) for communication (with respect to the other seven patents). The MediaTek complaint targets chipsets used in such devices.

Blue Sky Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, has transformed the case that it filed last month against BLU PRODUCTS into a campaign with a new case against Huawei (6:17-cv-00156). Blue Sky asserts the same seven former SBC/AT&T patents (6,484,027; 6,865,372; 7,693,542; 7,885,684; 8,019,381; 8,265,691; 8,346,169), as well as an eighth patent (6,088,398), generally related to OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplex) systems. The seven patents now asserted against both BLU Products and Huawei generally concern devices capable of communicating over both short- and wider-range cellular networks. The products accused in the new suit are certain Huawei mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and wearables based on LTE-compliant communications (with respect to the ‘398 patent) and certain Huawei mobile phones based on their use of Bluetooth to discover nearby devices (e.g. a headset) for communication (with respect to the other seven patents).

Blue Sky Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, has filed suit against BLU Products (1:17-cv-00125). The NPE’s complaint asserts seven former SBC/AT&T patents (6,484,027; 6,865,372; 7,693,542; 7,885,684; 8,019,381; 8,265,691; 8,346,169) from a larger family, all generally related to devices capable of communicating over both short- and wider-range cellular networks, and the accused products are certain mobile phones of BLU that use Bluetooth to discover nearby devices (e.g. a headset) for communication. Blue Sky is just one of several Monument NPEs to receive patents from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) over the past nine months, and it is not the first of these subsidiaries to launch litigation.