Showing 1 - 10 of 152 news articles
Each week, RPX publishes the latest news on patent litigation and market trends. Never miss a headline. Get them delivered right to your inbox.
The Virtual Bezel Is Back
New Patent Litigation
Onscreen Dynamics, LLC has filed a 2024 round of complaints, suing AutoNation (AN Dealership Holding, AutoNation Financial Services) (2:24-cv-00249), Carmax (Carmax Auto Superstores) (2:24-cv-00247), Carvana (2:24-cv-00248), Enterprise Holdings (EAN Holdings) (2:24-cv-00251), and Snell Motor Company (Land Rover Frisco) (2:24-cv-00250) over the sale of automobiles that incorporate infotainment systems with certain touchscreen interfaces. The asserted patents generally relate to a device having a touchscreen display with a “virtual bezel”—i.e., a portion of the display, generally a border area, that responds differently to gestures or touches than does the rest of the display.
April 20, 2024
IV Files Against Tesla in Austin . . . and in Waco
New Patent Litigation
Intellectual Ventures II LLC, a subsidiary of Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), has added two Western District of Texas cases against Tesla (1:24-cv-00390, 6:24-cv-00188), one in the Austin Division and the other in the Waco Division, to the automotive wing of one of the longest-running litigation campaigns, active since 2011. The same dozen patents are asserted in the two complaints, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of automobiles and related products that support the Autopilot and Connectivity services, as well as the use of Kubernetes within the “Tesla Infrastructure”.
April 20, 2024
VDPP Keeps Filing (and Refiling)
New Patent Litigation
VDPP LLC added separate late March cases against Delta Electronics (Vivitek) (3:24-cv-01781), FinSim (SIM2 USA) (0:24-cv-60463), Lenovo (Motorola Mobility) (3:24-cv-01672), Mazda (8:24-cv-00571), Mercedes Benz (3:24-cv-00664), ViewSonic (8:24-cv-00616), and Xiaomi (5:24-cv-01783) to the suits that the plaintiff filed earlier in the month against Best Buy, Boxlight, Canon, Honeywell, HP, JVCKenwood, NEC, Qisda (BenQ), Razer, and Ushio (Christie Digital Systems USA). The inventor-controlled plaintiff targets the provision of image processing features in a wide array of devices, ranging from projectors to smartphones, baby monitors to in-vehicle surround view camera systems.
March 29, 2024
BMW Tries to Enter the Arigna-Susman-Longford “Tripartite” Fray
Patent Market, Patent Watch, TPLF
Briefing is now complete on a motion to intervene brought by BMW in the District of Delaware case that Arigna Technology Limited, a plaintiff operating under the umbrella of Dublin-based monetization firm Atlantic IP Services Limited, filed against Longford Capital Fund III, LP (“LCF”), an entity controlled by Chicago-based litigation finance firm Longford Capital, this past December. Arigna and Longford dispute the extent to which the latter is owed proceeds from a “global settlement” with an unnamed defendant sued across litigation run by multiple Atlantic IP-tied plaintiffs, not just Arigna. BMW has jumped in based on allegations that a “German court will be expected to award BMW from Arigna . . . between $380,000 and $1.1 million” in costs and fees there and that “Arigna has demonstrated an ability and willingness to reduce its capital abroad to insulate itself from paying fees to BMW in Germany”. BMW further argues that its involvement in this case is necessary because it is “the only party interested in shedding light on the possible violation of Irish champerty litigation financing laws” here.
March 24, 2024
Minotaur Systems Files Third Round of Suits in Vehicle Networking Campaign
New Patent Litigation
Following a dismissal of its last active case in early January, Minotaur Systems LLC has filed a new round of complaints in its sole litigation campaign, suing AnyConnect Private (2:24-cv-00201) in the Eastern District of Texas; Motive Technologies (1:24-cv-00349), Nauto (1:24-cv-00351), Netradyne (1:24-cv-00352), and Samsara (1:24-cv-00353) in the District of Delaware; Safe Fleet Holdings (1:24-cv-02062) in the Eastern District of New York; and Trimble (1:24-cv-00789) in the District of Colorado. Two patents are asserted in overlapping sets, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of vehicle-related networking products, including dash cams (or systems incorporating them) and/or fleet management solutions.
March 22, 2024
BMW and Bosch File DJ Action Against Atlantic IP’s Foras Technologies in the Eastern District of Virginia
New Patent Litigation, TPLF
BMW and Robert Bosch (1:24-cv-00363) have filed a declaratory judgment (DJ) action in the Eastern District of Virginia against Foras Technologies Limited—a plaintiff associated with Dublin-based monetization firm Atlantic IP Services Limited—seeking judgments of invalidity and noninfringement of one patent generally related to protecting against “loss of lockstep” in processors. The complaint is part of the companies’ response to an affirmative complaint filed against them in the Western District of Texas, where parallel motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and for pleading inadequacies have been fully briefed.
March 15, 2024
Empire IP Plaintiff Extends Vehicle Monitoring Campaign
New Patent Litigation
OBD Sensor Solutions LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm Empire IP LLC, has expanded its sole litigation campaign with a suit against Verizon (Verizon Connect, Verizon Wireless) (2:24-cv-00153) in the Eastern District of Texas. A single patent is in suit, generally related to a device for monitoring the “use and functioning” of motor vehicles through a sensor, with the defendant accused of infringement through the provision of the Hum-series vehicle tracking devices and related products. At issue are features for “monitor[ing] and process[ing] information and/or data related to the use and functioning of motor vehicles”.
March 14, 2024
Subaru and Volvo Hit by Vision Works IP
New Patent Litigation
Inventor-controlled Vision Works IP Corp. has filed its latest cases—against Subaru (1:24-cv-00961) in the Northern District of Georgia and Volvo (2:24-cv-02021) in the District of New Jersey—in jurisdictions that impose heightened disclosure requirements on litigants. The Northern District of Georgia Local Rules require all parties to file a “complete list of [nonparties] having either a financial interest in or other interest which could be substantially affected by the outcome of the case”; Vision Works IP has yet to file this certificate. The District of New Jersey Local Rules require any party backed by certain litigation funding to disclose information about that relationship; Vision Works IP has not made such a disclosure.
March 8, 2024
In-Vehicle Air Quality Case Filed in Eastern District of Michigan
New Patent Litigation
Crispify Ltd. has filed what appears to be its first US litigation, suing Robert Bosch (2:24-cv-10570) in the Eastern District of Michigan over the provision of the RideCare Insight air quality monitoring equipment. The inventor-controlled Israeli operating company asserts a single patent broadly directed to monitoring and controlling the “air quality of a vehicle cabin”.
March 8, 2024
Second Autonomous IP Complaint Raises Questions
New Patent Litigation
After suing Tesla last month, Autonomous IP LLC has filed a second Western District of Texas complaint, this time against Lyft (7:24-cv-00051). The new pleading, filed by William P. Ramey III of Ramey LLP, raises questions in that it states in its body that the “Accused Instrumentality is Tesla Autopilot” but purports, through an attached claim chart, to target provision of the Level 5 initiative, described as a “self-driving system for ridesharing”, a division apparently sold to Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet in October 2021.
February 22, 2024