Iron Oak Technologies, LLC v. Dell Inc.

Microsoft (3:18-cv-00222) has filed a complaint against Iron Oak Technologies LLC, seeking declaratory judgments of noninfringement of two patents that the NPE has asserted in litigation against multiple defendants since November 2016. Microsoft pleads a justiciable controversy between the parties based on a letter that it received from Iron Oak, attached to the complaint, alleging infringement and identifying five Iron Oak patents “most relevant to [Microsoft’s] activities”, as well as on Iron Oak’s infringement allegations in cases already filed against Dell and HP, which refer to “Microsoft’s products, services and technology, including Automatic Update and automatic network connection features”.

Iron Oak Technologies LLC has added cases against Huawei (2:17-cv-00744) and ZTE (3:17-cv-03112), accusing certain smartphones and tablets made and sold by the companies of infringing two patents. One of those patents is generally related to remotely patching the operating code of a mobile device, and the other broadly concerns automatically selecting a path over which a computer is to communicate. The new complaints follow by a few days a case targeting HP laptops and tablets with the same two patents. The number of defendants in Iron Oak’s campaign has now topped 13, with similar products, as well as others (e.g., smart TVs, printers, wireless modules) at issue in the earlier complaints filed against Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Pantech, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, and Sierra Wireless.

As the litigation campaign of inventor-controlled Iron Oak Technologies LLC closes in on the one-year mark, the NPE has added an eleventh defendant, HP (1:17-cv-01068), in the Western District of Texas. Iron Oak asserts two patents at issue throughout the campaign against HP for provision of laptops and tablets: one generally related to remotely patching the operating code of a mobile device, and the other broadly concerns automatically selecting a path over which a computer is to communicate. The new complaint follows similar complaints filed earlier against Acer, ASUS, Fujitsu, Lenovo, and Dell, with additional products (e.g., smartphones, smart TVs, printers) added to the mix in lawsuits filed against Pantech, Samsung, Sharp, and Sierra Wireless.

October has now seen a third new case in the campaign that Iron Oak Technologies LLC began last November. The NPE has added a case against Sierra Wireless (1:17-cv-01485) to the District of Delaware wing of its campaign, which also includes an active suit against Lenovo. Litigation against Acer and Dell (the latter having also been sued this month) proceeds in the Western District of Texas, while separate cases against ASUS, Fujitsu, Samsung, Sharp (also brought into the campaign in October), and Toshiba proceed in the Northern District of Texas. Five patents have been asserted across these suits, with one of the four at issue in the Sierra Wireless case generally related to remotely patching the operating code of a mobile device and the other three broadly concerning identifying and tracking items over a cellular network. Sierra’s wireless cellular modules are the latest accused products.

Iron Oak Technologies LLC has filed a second new case in October, adding to its sole campaign a case against Dell (1:17-cv-00999) after suing Sharp (1:17-cv-01153) earlier this month. Litigation is now moving forward in three districts: the Western District of Texas (against Acer and Dell); the Northern District of Texas (against ASUS, Fujitsu, Samsung, Sharp, and Toshiba); and the District of Delaware (against Lenovo). At issue against Dell are the two patents-in-campaign asserted across all of its complaints, one generally related to automatically selecting a path over which a computer is to communicate and the other, to remotely patching the operating code of a mobile device. Iron Oak accuses Dell of infringement through the manufacture and sale of certain laptop and tablet computers.

Iron Oak Technologies LLC has filed suit against Sharp (1:17-cv-01153), asserting all five patents already at issue in the campaign that it began in November 2016. Sharp joins ASUS, Fujitsu, Samsung, and Toshiba as defendants in the Northern District of Texas; an earlier suit against Acer was transferred to the Western District of Texas in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s TC Heartland decision on patent venue, as was a case against Lenovo, which was later transferred again, to the District of Delaware. A suit against Pantech Wireless was dismissed without prejudice this past March. At issue across the campaign are the defendants’ mobile computing devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets), while the new complaint also contains allegations targeting certain smart TVs and printers made or sold by Sharp.

In the wake of last week’s TC Heartland decision from the US Supreme Court, Iron Oak Technologies LLC has voluntarily dismissed and refiled two of the cases in the litigation campaign that it began last November. The NPE prefaces both of its notices of dismissal without prejudice in the Northern District of Texas by acknowledging that the TC Heartland decision “overturned decades old controlling law from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit”, noting that it is “unaware” of either Acer (incorporated in California) or Lenovo (incorporated in Delaware) “having a regular and established place of business” in that district. Iron Oak then filed new actions in the Western District of Texas against Acer (6:17-cv-00143) and Lenovo (1:17-cv-00525), asserting the same two patents against Acer while dropping one of the five patents previously asserted against Lenovo.

Inventor-controlled Iron Oak Technologies LLC has added a suit against Samsung (3:17-cv-01259) to the campaign that the NPE began late last year. Two (5,966,658; 5,699,275) of the five patents (6,148,202; 6,240,295; 6,295,449) at issue in the campaign are asserted against Samsung, with infringement allegations focused on certain features of the company’s smartphones, laptops, and tablets. The ‘658 patent generally relates to automatically selecting a path over which a computer is to communicate, with infringement allegations focusing on the feature within mobile computing devices that selects between wired, Wi-Fi, and other preferred network options when on the move. The ‘275 patent generally relates to remotely patching the operating code of a mobile device, with infringement allegations focusing on the accused devices’ remote upgrade features.

Iron Oak Technologies LLC has added suits against Lenovo (3:17-cv-00429) and Pantech (3:17-cv-00430) to the campaign that the inventor-controlled NPE started this past November. The same patents (5,966,658; 5,699,275; 6,148,202; 6,240,295; 6,295,449) are again at issue, with Pantech accused of infringing all five of them through the manufacture and sale of its smartphones and Lenovo accused of infringing all but the ‘449 patent through the provision of laptops and tablets. The ‘658 patent generally relates to automatically selecting a path over which a computer is to communicate, with infringement allegations focusing on the feature within mobile computing devices that selects between wired, Wi-Fi, and other preferred network options when on the move. The ‘275 patent generally relates to remotely patching the operating code of a mobile device, with infringement allegations focusing on the accused devices’ remote upgrade features. The remaining three patents, part of the same 22-member family, generally concern identifying and tracking items over a cellular network, with infringement allegations focusing on features in the accused products that identify them when moving.

Inventor-controlled Iron Oak Technologies LLC has kicked off its first litigation campaign, targeting computing devices (laptops and tablets) of Acer (3:16-cv-03321), ASUS (3:16-cv-03322), Fujitsu (3:16-cv-03319), and Toshiba (3:16-cv-03320). In its new complaints, the plaintiff characterizes itself as a “technology development company” wholly owned by William (Bill) C. Kennedy III and Kenneth R. Westerlage, both of whom are named inventors on many of the patents owned by Iron Oak and both of whom are apparent executives with On-Board Communications, a Dallas company offering tracking devices and fleet management solutions. Two patents (5,966,658; 5,699,275) are asserted against all four defendants, while three additional patents (6,148,202; 6,240,295; 6,295,449) are asserted against Fujitsu only.