Showing 11 - 20 of 475 news articles
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Automaker Targeted with Anti-Rollover Patents Months After Noninfringement Ruling in Dealer’s Favor
New Patent Litigation
Inventor-controlled ARSUS, LLC has filed suit against Tesla (3:20-cv-00313), charging the automaker with infringement of two patents generally related to a vehicle steering control system that limits the steering range to prevent a rollover. The plaintiff targets provision of the Tesla S, X, and Model 3, “equipped with Tesla’s so-called Auto-pilot system”. In November 2019, the Federal Circuit affirmed District of Utah Judge Dee V. Benson’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement to a local BMW dealer, John H. Firmage, Inc. (d/b/a BMW of Murray). In that order, Judge Benson ruled that, even without the benefit of claim construction, the accused BMW system “never actually prevents the vehicle from being steered beyond a rollover threshold at any point” by a driver.
January 14, 2020
Arthrex Debate Continues as Government and Parties Spar in Companion Case
Patent Litigation Feature
The Federal Circuit’s October decision in Arthrex has cast doubt upon numerous invalidity proceedings through its holding that the appointment of administrative patent judges (APJs) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is unconstitutional—and a recent RPX analysis indicates that hundreds of America Invents Act (AIA) reviews may be subject to rehearing as a result. Now, the debate over the merits of the decision has taken further shape in another appeal involving the same issue, Polaris Innovations Limited v. Kingston Technology (2018-1831). On January 6, the US government and both parties each filed detailed briefs answering questions from the court about the lingering constitutional questions raised by Arthrex.
January 12, 2020
Early 2020 Sees High-Profile OpCo Litigation, Despite 2019 Tilt Toward NPE Plaintiffs
New Patent Litigation
NPEs accounted for roughly 56% of the defendants added to patent cases in the fourth quarter of 2019 (with just over 500 defendants added), while operating companies added approximately 44% (just over 400). This breakdown extends to four the number of quarters in which NPEs added more defendants than operating company plaintiffs. To see how the numbers added up for the year as a whole, see RPX’s latest blog post. Nevertheless, the first few days of 2020 have seen a trio of significant new operating company disputes.
January 12, 2020
Northern California Reboot of Princeps Keyboard Campaign Features Plaintiff "Secundus"
New Patent Litigation
“Princeps” is apparently a Latin word meaning “one that is first”, making apt the name of the new plaintiff—Princeps Secundus LLC—to take over the campaign that Princeps Interface Technologies LLC (PIT) tried to launch last summer. Princeps Secundus has filed its first affirmative cases in the reboot, suing ASUSTek (5:20-cv-00205) and Samsung (3:20-cv-00201) in the Northern District of California. The suits join declaratory judgment actions there, one filed by each of Alphabet (Google) and Apple, in which amended complaints were filed to add Princeps Secundus as a defendant after the recordation of a set of November 2019 assignments moving the asserted “universal keyboard” patent to Princeps Secundus from PIT.
January 11, 2020
With New Suit Against Acer, DataQuill Takes a Run at Two Decades of Litigation over the Same Patent
New Patent Litigation
The sole litigation campaign of DataQuill Limited threatens to push past the 20-year mark with a new case filed against Acer (6:20-cv-00017) in the Western District of Texas, joining suits filed last year against first TCL (TCT Mobile) in the Central District of California and then separately against ASUSTek and Yulong Computer Communications (Coolpad Technologies) in the Eastern District of Texas. Several related patents have been at issue over the campaign’s life, but the original, May 2000 patent has been asserted in every case throughout, from the first complaint, filed against Palm predecessor Handspring in 2001, and now against Acer. The accused products, in line with previous accusations, are Acer “smartphones that enable users to browse and download items such as apps, games, ringtones, music, videos, books, and magazines” having “a touch-sensitive screen and the Android operating system”.
January 11, 2020
IoT Campaign, over Patents Picked Up from IV, Engulfs Four More Defendants in West Texas
Energy, New Patent Litigation
BCS Software LLC (d/b/a Bluebonnet Consulting Services & Software) (BCS) has sued Honeywell (Elster) (6:20-cv-00002), Itron (6:19-cv-00728), Toshiba (Landis+Gyr Technologies) (6:20-cv-00005), and Xylem (Sensus) (6:20-cv-00003) over a family of three patents that the plaintiff received as part of a larger acquisition from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in September 2018. The patents asserted here generally relate to a system for using a server to monitor certain client applications and distributed components associated with those applications over a network. At issue in these new complaints are the defendants’ Internet-of-Things (IoT) “smart” platforms—Elster’s Connexo platform; Itron’s OpenWay platform; Landis+Gyr’s Gridstream Connect; and Sensus’s FlexNet.
January 10, 2020
Litigation from a Crop of Georgia-Based NPEs, Holding Hundreds of Patents Received from IV, Looks Imminent
Patent Market, Patent Watch
Public records suggest that a batch of newly formed NPEs, with apparent ties to an Atlanta law firm, are gearing up to assert multiple patent portfolios received late last year from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). The transacted portfolios—which were divested by IV in mid-November—comprise hundreds of US assets, as well as a number of foreign counterparts, and include patents originating with operating companies spanning multiple industries.
January 10, 2020
Proxy Battle Looms as Activist Investor Increases Pressure on Immersion
In Case You Missed It
Last quarter, Immersion Corporation provided investors with an update on its new strategic initiative—an optimistic plan for moving forward now that the company is no longer “mired in constant litigation” and has “transitioned out of cash burn mode”. However, with activist investor VIEX Capital Advisors ratcheting up pressure on Immersion—in which Acacia Research Corporation also holds a large stake—the company may need to focus on fending off a proxy fight.
January 10, 2020
Texas Monetization Firm, Arising from Longhorn IP’s Split, Looks Ready to Litigate
Patent Market, Patent Watch
Public records suggest that litigation may be coming from Ozmo Licensing LLC (f/k/a Sonic Wave LLC), a Texas entity identified as a “current investment” on the website of Harfang IP Investment Corp. As recently reported by RPX, Longhorn IP LLC’s cofounder, Christian (“Chris”) Dubuc, is leaving that firm three years after its formation and has changed the name of an existing Texas entity under his control to Harfang IP. Meanwhile, newly released assignment records reveal that in November 2019, Ozmo Licensing expanded its patent holdings with additional pickups from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV).
January 9, 2020
Q4 2019 RPX Acquisitions Update
Patent Market, Patent Watch
RPX completed a number of deals during the fourth quarter of 2019 on behalf of its patent risk management network. The acquisitions occurred within the following market sectors: Automotive, E-Commerce and Software, Mobile Communications and Devices, and Networking.
January 8, 2020