American Vehicular Sciences [NPE] filed five patent suits against BMW and seven suits against Toyota, asserting asserting a number of patents relating to vehicular components.  These are the first patent infringement suits initiated by American Vehicular Sciences, a subsidiary of Acacia Research.  David Breed is the named inventor on the patents-in-suit, which originated with Automotive Technologies International (ATI) and were assigned to American Vehicular Sciences in April 2012.  According to ATI’s website, the company was formed by Breed, “a highly respected scientist in the field of automotive safety,” in 1998. In 2006, ATI filed suit against BMW in a case that appears to still be pending. (1:2006cv00391). 6/25, Eastern District of Texas, no judge yet assigned, 6:2012cv00404; 6:2012cv00405; 6:2012cv00406; 6:2012cv00407; 6:2012cv00408; 6:2012cv00409; 6:2012cv00410; 6:2012cv00411; 6:2012cv00412; 6:2012cv00413; 6:2012cv00414; 6:2012cv00415.