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IPinvestments Group Affiliates Continue to Litigate Patents Acquired Last Year from IV, Most Recently in New DVR Campaign
New Patent Litigation
SynchView Technologies, LLC, an apparent affiliate of Atlanta-based monetization firm IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has initiated a new litigation campaign, asserting a single patent generally related to digital video recorders (DVRs). The NPE has sued Atlantic Broadband Finance (1:18-cv-00723), Blue Ridge Communications (1:18-cv-00724), and Channel Master (1:18-cv-00725) in the District of Delaware, as well as Grande Communications Networks (1:18-cv-00412) in the Western District of Texas. Atlantic, Blue Ridge, and Grande are alleged to infringe through the provisions of DVRs and related services provided by TiVo, while Channel Master’s accused products are DVRs sold under its own brand.
May 17, 2018
More Bluetooth-Enabled Speakers Targeted in Newest IPVal Campaign
New Patent Litigation
On the same day that Adiona IP, LLC filed suit against Samsung (2:18-cv-09135) in the District of New Jersey, the plaintiff, an affiliate of monetization firm IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal), also tagged Bang & Olufsen (1:18-cv-00716), LG Electronics (LGE) (1:18-cv-00718), Libratone (1:18-cv-00719), and Peag (1:18-cv-00717) over the same media distribution patent in the District of Delaware. Adiona IP accuses the defendants of infringement through the provision of speakers having Bluetooth connectivity to smartphones and/or tablet computers—e.g., Samsung’s Radiant360 R1 speaker system (in connection with smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S9), LGE’s FH6 (in combination with smartphones like the LG G6), etc.
May 16, 2018
Intel DJs Tela Innovations in the Northern District of California
New Patent Litigation
In May 2018, Intel filed suit against Tela Innovations, Inc., seeking multiple declaratory judgments from the Northern District of California, including noninfringement rulings as to six Tela chip design patents. Tela moved to transfer the case to Delaware, citing a forum selection clause in a nondisclosure agreement that the parties had signed, concurrently moving to dismiss for lack of a justiciable controversy between the parties. The court denied those motions, triggering a December 19 answer to Intel’s complaint by Tela. On that same day, and also in the Northern District of California, Tela filed separate cases accusing Acer (3:18-cv-07615), ASUSTek (5:18-cv-07616), and Micro-Star (3:18-cv-07617) of infringing an overlapping set of five chip design patents. The accused products are “laptops, desktops, computer tablets, all-in-one PCs, processors, notebooks, board-level computers, and servers, which contain an Intel microprocessor or printed circuit board using Intel’s Tri-Gate technology at a 22nm process node, a 14nm process node, or smaller”. A fourth complaint, filed against Lenovo (1:18-cv-02025) in the District of Delaware, contains analogous infringement allegations.
May 16, 2018
Federal Circuit Backs Existing Rule Allowing Suits Against Foreign Defendants in Any District
The Federal Circuit has declined to revisit the US Supreme Court’s precedent allowing suits to be brought against foreign defendants in any district. In its 1972 decision in Brunette Machine Works v. Kockum Industries, the Supreme Court held that a prior version of the statute providing that rule (presently 35 USC § 1391(c)(3)) governed suits against foreign patent defendants rather than the patent-specific venue statute, under the long-standing principle that foreign defendants fall outside all federal venue laws. That rule had been challenged by HTC in a February 21 petition for writ of mandamus, after a district court found in a suit brought by 3G Licensing S.A. and Koninklijke KPN that venue was proper as to HTC’s primary Taiwanese entity but not as to an American subsidiary. In a May 9 ruling denying that petition in In re: HTC, the Federal Circuit reaffirmed Brunette and rejected the argument that TC Heartland and 2011 amendments to the general venue statute precluded that case’s interpretation of the foreign venue statute (2018-0130).
May 16, 2018
Multiple Patents Naming Finjan Founder as Inventor Asserted Against Trend Micro in New Campaign
Three months after creating wholly owned subsidiary CUPP CyberSecurity LLC, Norwegian entity CUPP Computing AS has filed suit, together with the new Delaware LLC, against Trend Micro (3:18-cv-01251) in the Northern District of Texas. The plaintiffs assert (apparently as patent owner and exclusive licensee) eight patents from CUPP Computing’s portfolio of 24 issued US patents, generally related to security mechanisms for mobile networks and devices. Trend Micro is accused of infringement through the provision of various hardware and software cybersecurity products, including its User Protection, Network Defense, Hybrid Cloud Security, Worry-Free, Home Products, and Trend Micro Portable Security, as well as other products incorporating Trend Micro’s underlying technologies.
May 15, 2018
At One Month Old, Secure Cam Baby Monitor Campaign Doubles in Size
In the first of its two litigation campaigns, Secure Cam, LLC has focused its infringement allegations more squarely against VOXX International in a Northern District of California case (5:18-cv-02335) while adding a new suit, against VTech (1:18-cv-03375), in the Northern District of Illinois. The NPE filed an amended complaint in a suit brought this past April against Project Nursery that swaps out that defendant for VOXX Accessories, pleading that the latter makes the baby monitors for sale by Project Nursery. The VTech case also targets a long list of that company’s baby monitors. Both complaints assert a single patent generally related to transmitting video images over a network.
May 14, 2018
XR Communications Files Against ARRIS in ND Cal After Judge Works Through Nested Dolls to Transfer Ruckus Wireless Case There
In April 2017, XR Communications, LLC (d/b/a Vivato) launched a litigation campaign with 11 lawsuits, each asserting the same three wireless communications patents. Quick dismissal of one of those cases left ten active in the Central District of California, the one against Ruckus Wireless becoming messy following Brocade’s sell-off of Ruckus to ARRIS in the wake of its own acquisition by Broadcom. XR Communications tried to salvage the situation by filing against ARRIS in the Los Angeles court, but District Judge Andrew J. Guilford handed down a colorful March 20, 2018 order, transferring the Ruckus Wireless case to the Northern District of California. XR Communications has responded by dismissing its Central District case against ARRIS and filing a new one (5:18-cv-02736) in the Northern District, targeting certain access points and routers sold by ARRIS, including certain of its SURFboard and Touchstone cable modems. Meanwhile, back down in Los Angeles, the court has stayed the remaining cases in light of multiple petitions filed for inter partes review (IPR) of the three patents-in-suit.
May 13, 2018
IPVal Affiliate Tags Samsung in New Jersey in a Widening Media Distribution Campaign
One of the two patents asserted in a new suit against TiVo by Adiona IP, LLC has also been asserted in a case filed against Samsung (2:18-cv-09135) roughly one week later. Adiona IP, an affiliate of monetization firm IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal) accuses Samsung of infringing the media distribution patent through the manufacture and sale of its Radiant360 R1 speaker system, which plays music through a Bluetooth connection with a Samsung smartphone, the complaint calling out the Samsung Galaxy S9. At issue with respect to the same patent in the TiVo case is TiVo’s Multi-Room Streaming service.
May 13, 2018
Dominion’s Visual Effect Innovations Completes Trio of Second Suits
With its new case against LG Electronics (LGE) (1:18-cv-00687), Visual Effect Innovations, LLC (VEI), an affiliate of Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, has now filed second suits against all three defendants named last September: Samsung, Sony, and now LGE. All three new complaints assert two recently issued members of the single family of 24 patents at issue in the campaign, generally related to various video image processing techniques. The defendants are accused of infringement through the manufacture and sale of certain televisions and monitors.
May 13, 2018
Longhorn IP Hooks Portfolio from Intellectual Ventures
Longhorn IP LLC has joined the growing list of NPEs to which Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) has transferred patents. During the first week of May, IV assigned a patent portfolio to a recently formed Longhorn affiliate. The portfolio includes patents developed by Nokia, and they concern a range of technologies.
May 12, 2018