Carucel Investments LP v. FCA US LLC et al DC

This past week saw Carucel Investments LP’s cases against FCA US, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen stayed pending inter partes review of all six of the NPE’s patents-in-campaign. Also last week, a certificate of interested persons filed by Carucel revealed litigation finance firm Curiam Capital as holding a financial interest in the NPE’s campaign, which is currently targeting automobiles with mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.

A California jury has issued a verdict of non-infringement for Novatel Wireless and Verizon (Cellco) (3:16-cv-00118) in a case brought by inventor-controlled NPE Carucel Investments, L.P. On April 10, the jury found that the MiFi wireless hotspots made by Novatel Wireless and sold by Verizon did not infringe four patents (7,221,904; 7,848,701; 7,979,023; 8,718,543) that generally relate to bridging communication between mobile devices and a base station while either device is moving.