Last year, Light Guide Innovations LLC filed separate complaints against first TCL (TCT Mobile and multiple subsidiaries) and then Hisense, both in the Eastern District of Texas, targeting the provision of LED strips used for television or other display backlighting. Each defendant has yet to answer (or otherwise respond). Now, Light Guide has sued Walmart (2:25-cv-00312) in the same district, asserting 16 patents from the same former Suzhou Lekin Semiconductor Co. Ltd. (d/b/a LEKIN) portfolio. The plaintiff targets the provision of VIZIO Quantum, Quantum Pro, 4k, Full HD, HD, M-Series, V-Series, and D-Series televisions. VIZIO is not named as a defendant.

Eastern District of Texas Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne last week recommended denial of a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by DigitalDoors, Inc. against Frost Bank for inadequate pleading. Clarifying that it is not making a “standard-essential argument” concerning the patents asserted in this campaign, the plaintiff targets “interconnected storage systems” that “operate as a single controlled apparatus to provide secure data vaulting . . . as specified by Sheltered Harbor or its operational equivalent”. The day of the court’s report, DigitalDoors filed new complaints in the Western District of Texas, one against each of Amarillo National Bank (7:25-cv-00102), Broadway Bancshares (7:25-cv-00103), International Bancshares (Commerce Bank) (7:25-cv-00105), Northern Trust (7:25-cv-00106), Pinnacle Bank (7:25-cv-00107), South Plains Financial (City Bank Texas) (7:25-cv-00104), Texas Capital Bancshares (Texas Capital Bank) (7:25-cv-00108), US Bancorp (WestStar Bank) (7:25-cv-00110), VBT Financial (Vantage Bank Texas) (7:25-cv-00109), and Western Alliance Bank (Alliance Association Bank, Bank of Nevada, Bridge Bank, First Independent Bank, Torrey Pines Bank) (7:25-cv-00111).

Ascale Technologies LLC, an Anjay Venture Partners LLC plaintiff, has filed its first litigation, suing Texas Instruments (TI) (2:25-cv-00243) in the Eastern District of Texas over the provision of “integrated circuits including a processor” including display controllers, DSPs, microcontrollers, PMICs, processors, and “wireless connectivity chips”. The three asserted patents are part of a larger portfolio that RPX recently reported that Ascale Technologies had received from NXP USA, a subsidiary of NXP Semiconductors, on December 28, 2024.

Attaching an October 7, 2024 letter signed by Michelle Fisher as the CEO of Blaze Mobile Technologies LLC (BMT), Charles Schwab has asked the Northern District of California for declaratory judgments of noninfringement of three patents held by BMT (3:25-cv-02122). RPX has previously noted (see here and here) the flow of patents on which Fisher is a named inventor from Blaze Mobile, Inc.—a Delaware entity already embroiled in a declaratory judgment action filed against it by Samsung in California—to BMT, formed in Texas. Now, Charles Schwab pleads, on information and belief, that BMT “was formed as a conduit for asserting patent infringement claims in the Eastern District of Texas and in an attempt to avoid litigation” in the Northern District of California.

This year, K.Mizra LLC has sued Alphabet (Google) (1:25-cv-00236) in the Western District of Texas and SonicWall (1:25-cv-00047) in the District of Delaware, each over two former Radix Holdings patents; and Seiko (Epson America, Seiko Epson) (8:25-cv-00027) in the Central District of California over three former Sharp patents. In the last complaint, K.Mizra puts Seiko on notice as to infringement of a fourth such patent, arguing that the defendants are “exclusively in possession of the information (e.g., source code and/or encrypted signal-related information) necessary to confirm [its] infringing activity”. There, K.Mizra also discloses backing by a prominent third-party litigation funder.

Middle District of Florida Judge Paul G. Byron recently denied, without prejudice, a Qualcomm request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have stopped plaintiff ParkerVision, Inc. (and its surrogates) “from posting stories, granting interviews, or otherwise disseminating stories through its website, willing media outlets, or in self-produced documentary-style videos”. The court agreed that ParkerVision’s recent “media blitz” is “distasteful” and “noxious” but expressed confidence that it would be able to seat an impartial jury in any future trial between the two. That trial would occur in ParkerVision’s second case against Qualcomm (6:14-cv-00687)—a case filed back in May 2014 and revived by the Federal Circuit last fall.

In September 2023, WinView IP Holdings, LLC, an entity formed by former WinView CEO David Lockton, acquired ownership of WinView’s patent portfolio as part of a settlement of a Delaware lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty by those running WinView through an alleged “merger freeze-out” into Engine Media Holdings. WinView's patent cases against DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment (FanDuel) had been filed, in July 2021 in the District of New Jersey, but were administratively terminated while certain inter partes review (IPR) proceedings played out. Now, familiar patents, new counsel, and litigation funding all in hand, WinView IP Holdings seeks a reboot of those whittled-down cases while filing new ones against the same two defendants (3:25-cv-01143 and 3:25-cv-01146, respectively), this time over at least eight more patents.

Special Master David Folsom, appointed by Eastern District of Texas Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap, has clarified that his prior order requiring CogniPower, LLC to produce for in camera review “all communications and documentation related to the [a prior art witness’s] deposition and originating from any attorney or paralegal at the firm of Irell & Manella LLP” is to include all such communications following that deposition. The due date for the production is February 18. This inquiry relates to resolving a motion for sanctions against CogniPower filed by defendant Samsung in which the allegation is that an Irell associate used at the deposition a prior art “demonstrative with an altered date”. A court-ordered deposition of that Irell associate, conducted by court appointed counsel, revealed that the “altered date” scheme may have involved at least one other lawyer at Irell.

Dialect, LLC has added separate suits against Meta Platforms (7:25-cv-00060) and Salesforce (7:25-cv-00061) in the Western District of Texas. The five asserted patents, each originating with Voicebox Technologies (acquired by Nuance Communications in 2018, which itself was acquired by Microsoft in 2021), are broadly directed to processing and responding to “natural language” inputs. Meta Platforms is accused of infringement through the provision of the Meta AI assistant and supporting products (i.e., platforms, smart glasses, and VR headsets); Salesforce, over the Salesforce Voice AI Agent. At issue is the support for natural language processing and voice recognition.

Coplaintiffs Malikie Innovations Limited (as “the successor-in-interest to a substantial patent portfolio created and procured over many years by [BlackBerry]”) and Key Patent Innovations Limited (KPI, as “the beneficiary of a trust pursuant to which Malikie owns, holds, and asserts the Asserted Patents”) have sued Match Group (3:25-cv-00381) in the Northern District of Texas and Vantiva (2:25-cv-00163) in the Eastern District of Texas. After first D-Link exited this campaign in December 2024 in light of an earlier noticed settlement and then the cases against both Acer (with prejudice) and Sophos (without prejudice) were dismissed in 2025, this litigation remains active as to ASUSTek and Nintendo—and now Match Group and Vantiva.