The first lawsuit filed by Mira Advanced Technology Systems, Inc. (MATS), against Microsoft in 2016, met its demise before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The Board invalidated both patents-in-suit—generally related to storing, for later presentation, a “conversation point for a future phone call” in association with an entry in a list of contacts—in light of certain prior art, in decisions summarily affirmed by the Federal Circuit. The plaintiff has now returned to litigation, this time accusing Alphabet (Google) (1:21-cv-00371) of infringing a patent issuing in March 2020 in the same family, this one generally related to providing location-based notifications based on a device’s GPS coordinates.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw 54 petitions for AIA review brought against NPEs in May, up from 20 such petitions filed in April. May PTAB filings included a resurgence in petitions against publicly traded NPEs, including Acacia Research Corporation; Pendrell Corporation; Quest Patent Research Corporation; VoIP-Pal.com, Inc.; Xperi Corporation (f/k/a Tessera Holding Corporation); and Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN) (which was renamed to Quarterhill Inc. on June 1). A variety of private litigants were also hit by PTAB petitions in May, including Blackbird Tech LLC, Global Equity Management (SA) Pty. Ltd., General Patent Corporation, Realtime Data LLC, and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continued to see the filing of petitions for inter partes review (IPR) against publicly traded NPEs in March 2017, including Acacia Research Corporation; Finjan Holdings, Inc.; Pendrell Corporation; TiVo Corporation (formerly known as Rovi Corporation); and Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN). A variety of prolific, privately held NPEs were also targeted for IPR throughout March, including Blackbird Tech LLC, General Patent Corporation, IP Edge LLC, Realtime Data LLC, and Papst Licensing GmbH & Company Kg, along with several inventors and inventor-controlled NPEs and an assortment of other plaintiffs.

Gastroenterologist-controlled Mira Advanced Technology Systems Inc. has filed a new lawsuit against Microsoft (2:16-cv-00088). The complaint alleges that Microsoft infringes a single patent (8,848,892) through provision of a Windows Phone software feature that records and presents a memo reminder associated with a contact. The ‘892 patent generally relates to storing, for later presentation, a “conversation point for a future phone call” in association with an entry in a list of contacts. It belongs to an eight-patent family, other members of which generally relate to linking information with a contact list for use and presentation on a mobile device.