American Patents LLC v. Fortinet, Inc.

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.