American Patents LLC v. TCL Corp. et al DC

Advantech (6:21-cv-01331), Grande Communications (6:21-cv-01332), Legrand (6:21-cv-01333), Mofi Network (6:21-cv-01334), Moxa (6:21-cv-01335), Telit Communications (6:21-cv-01336), and Viasat (6:21-cv-01337) have all become the latest defendants sued in the first, and largest, litigation campaign of American Patents LLC, Epson America (8:21-cv-02102), already involved in the campaign, also filing a complaint seeking declaratory judgments of noninfringement of the same four patents asserted throughout. The new cases cap a 2021 that saw cases filed earlier in the year over the same portfolio, received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), against CalAmp, Continental, Edimax Computer (Edimax Technology) Lanner Electronics, Motorola Solutions, Newell Brands (BRK Brands), Plantronics (Polycom), Seiko Epson, Sierra Wireless, Xerox, and Zebra Technologies.The campaign’s accused products spans a wide variety of devices (e.g., modules, routers, telematics solutions, transceivers, vehicle-mounted computers, etc.), all targeted over their support of 802.11n and above Wi-Fi connectivity and/or LTE.

American Patents LLC has filed a round of new cases in its only active litigation campaign, suing Continental (6:21-cv-00635), Newell Brands (BRK Brands) (6:21-cv-00636), Sierra Wireless (6:21-cv-00637), Xerox (6:21-cv-00638), and Zebra Technologies (6:21-cv-00639), all in the Western District of Texas. The plaintiff asserts four patents, generally related to interactions between smart devices and communication networks, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of a wide variety of devices (e.g., modules, routers, telematics solutions, transceivers, vehicle-mounted computers, etc.) that support wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi and/or cellular).

American Patents LLC has added four suits to its lone active litigation campaign. The NPE accuses the defendants—AirTies, Altice (Cequel Communications), Cablevision (CSC Holdings), Charter Communications (Spectrum Golf Coast), Commscope (ARRIS), and Sagemcom (4:20-cv-00903); Compal (Arcadyan Technology) and DISH Network (4:20-cv-00905); JVC Kenwood (4:20-cv-00906); and Synology (4:20-cv-00907)—of infringement through the provision of a wide variety of devices (e.g., access points, entertainment systems, gateways, mesh routers, and receivers) that support wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi and cellular).

Roughly two weeks after suing Arista Networks, Extreme Networks, and Roku in the Western District of Texas, American Patents LLC has added cases against Comcast (6:20-cv-00780) and Sonim Technologies (6:20-cv-00781) there. The plaintiff asserts the same four patents, generally related to interactions between smart devices and communication networks, against both defendants, adding a fifth patent against Sonim alone. The complaints target the provision of devices that support Wi-Fi and/or cellular connectivity: for Comcast, of certain Xfinity branded gateways and mesh Wi-Fi devices; and for Sonim, of certain phones, smartphones, and smartphone deployment kits.

For the latest round of suits in its oldest litigation campaign, American Patents LLC has turned—as many other NPEs recently have—to the Western District of Texas, filing one suit against each of Arista Networks (6:20-cv-00740), Extreme Networks (6:20-cv-00741), and Roku (6:20-cv-00742) there. Four patents, acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) and already at issue in the campaign, are asserted against the defendants over their provision of devices that support certain Wi-Fi standards: for Arista, the provision of C-260, C-250, and C-130 access points; for Extreme Networks, the AP 510i/e, 505i, and AP460C access points; and for Roku, the Ultra, Ultra LT, and Streaming Stick streaming devices.

American Patents LLC has ended November as it began the month: by filing lawsuits. Last week, the plaintiff added cases against Fortinet (4:19-cv-00878), Juniper Networks (4:19-cv-00879), Shenzhen Tenda Technology (4:19-cv-00880), Sophos (4:19-cv-00881), and Yulong Computer Communications (Coolpad Group, Coolpad Technologies, Yulong Computer Telecommunications Scientific Company) (4:19-cv-00877) to its first, and largest, litigation campaign. The same three patents—generally related to interactions between “smart” devices and communications networks—are asserted in the new complaints, with Yulong accused of infringement through the provision of smartphones that support LTE; the other defendants, through their provision of wireless access points supporting 802.11ac and/or LTE.

The October revival of the first litigation campaign of American Patents LLC continued in November with new suits filed against Hon Hai (Foxconn Interconnect Technology) (4:19-cv-00799), HP Enterprise (HPE) (4:19-cv-00798), and Unizyx Holding (Zyxel Communications) (4:19-cv-00800). Last month, the NPE hit D-Link, TP-Link, and Tsinghua Tongfang, with all six of the recently sued defendants accused of infringing the same three patents, generally related to interactions between “smart” devices and communications networks, through the provision of various networking devices (for Hon Hai, the complaint naming certain Linksys and/or Belkin routers; for HPE, certain Aruba and HPE OfficeConnect access points; and for Zyxel, certain Armor routers) with the devices’ wireless connectivity features (e.g., cellular connectivity, MIMO technology, and Wi-Fi) at issue.

American Patents LLC has revived its first litigation campaign, begun in September 2018, with cases filed against D-Link (4:19-cv-00764), TP-Link (4:19-cv-00765), and Tsinghua Tongfang (4:19-cv-00763) in the Eastern District of Texas. The NPE asserts three patents generally related to interactions between “smart” devices and communication networks. Across its complaints, American Patents targets—with patents received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV)—D-Link’s Wireless AC1200 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Gigabit routers, TP-Link’s Omada AC1350 Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit Ceiling Mount Access Point products, and Tsinghua Tongfang’s Westinghouse LED Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR smart TVs over their Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.

American Patents LLC ended October the same way it began the month—adding more cases to the litigation campaign that it started in September. The new suits name BlackBerry and TCL together (4:18-cv-00767); Best Buy, Hisense, Sharp,  and TPV together (4:18-cv-00768); and Panasonic (4:18-cv-00766), all joining Acer, ASUS, HP, Huawei, LG Electronics (LGE), OnePlus, Samsung, and ZTE as defendants in the Eastern District of Texas. Across its complaints, American Patents targets—with patents received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV)—the provision of a variety devices (including laptops, smartphones, and smart TVs) offering Google’s Chromecast streaming and/or keyboards with predictive text features and other features related to keyboard layout, as well as devices that support of Wi-Fi and/or cellular connectivity.

Following a first wave of filings in late September, hitting Huawei, LG Electronics (LGE), Samsung, and ZTE, American Patents LLC doubled its campaign during the first week of October with four separate suits against Acer, ASUS, HP, and OnePlus. The patents-in-campaign, which generally relate to communications networking, were acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in June and were each developed by a major operating company or university. The new defendants are accused of infringement through provision of devices (including laptops and smartphones) offering Google’s Chromecast streaming and keyboards with predictive text features and other features related to keyboard layout. All the campaign defendants, apart from LGE and Samsung, are also alleged to infringe through their accused devices’ support of Wi-Fi and/or cellular connectivity.

American Patents LLC, a new NPE with ties to multiple other litigating Texas entities, has launched its first campaign, suing Huawei (4:18-cv-00672), LG Electronics (LGE) (4:18-cv-00673), Samsung (4:18-cv-00674), and ZTE (4:18-cv-00675) over a group of patents acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). The patents-in-suit, which generally relate to communications networks, are a subset of more than 30 US assets transferred by IV to American Patents in June. All four defendants are accused of infringement through the provision of smartphones offering Google’s Chromecast streaming, with Huawei and ZTE also targeted over keyboards with predictive text features and other features related to keyboard layout; LGE, over camera gesture controls; and Samsung, over biometric and gesture authentication features.