Proximity Sensors of Texas, LLC v. ZTE Corporation et al

Proximity Sensors of Texas LLC, an affiliate of monetization firm IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal), has filed new cases in its campaign over a single patent generally related to an apparatus on an object’s surface that emits light and receives back reflected light. The NPE accuses AMS (AMS-TAOS USA) (4:19-cv-00026) in the Eastern District of Texas and ROHM (ROHM Semiconductor USA) (1:19-cv-00208) in the Northern District of Illinois of direct infringement, calling out their AMS tmd2771/ tmd277x and ROHM rpr0521 sensors, respectively, further alleging indirect infringement through the provision of products (e.g., smartphones and tablets) that include such sensors. In prior cases in the campaign, Proximity Sensors named smartphone and tablet makers themselves—Apple, Huawei, Microsoft, and ZTE—as defendants.

Proximity Sensors of Texas LLC, an affiliate of monetization firm IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal), has added a fourth defendant to the campaign that it began last October. The NPE sued Apple (6:18-cv-00041) over the same patent, generally related to an apparatus on an object’s surface that emits light and receives back reflected light, that it asserted in the earlier complaints, filed against Huawei, Microsoft, and ZTE. At issue throughout the campaign are the defendants’ smartphones that include proximity sensors, used, for example, to turn off the touchscreen when the phone is close enough to a user’s ear. Now two IPVal affiliates have begun litigating patents from a portfolio of lens technology portfolio received from a Korean monetization firm in October 2017.

Proximity Sensors of Texas LLC, an affiliate of monetization firm IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal), has initiated a new litigation campaign, filing separate suits against Huawei (6:17-cv-00575), Microsoft (6:17-cv-00573), and ZTE (6:17-cv-00574). The patent asserted is generally related to an apparatus on an object’s surface that emits light and receives back reflected light. The new complaints target the defendants’ smartphones that include proximity sensors, used, for example, to turn off the touchscreen when the phone is close enough to a user’s ear. The complaints name Huawei’s Honor 6X, Mate 9, and Nexus 6P phones, together with proximity sensors allegedly provided by AMS, Lite-On Semiconductor, or TXC; various models of Microsoft’s Lumia phones, together with an Avago proximity sensor; and a long list of ZTE phones, together with AMS, Lite-On, or Rohm sensors.