Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) (4:23-cv-00910) is the latest defendant to be added to the sole litigation campaign of Bell Northern Research, LLC (BNR), which launched in August 2018 with suits against Huawei, Kyocera, Coolpad Group (Coolpad Technologies, Yulong Computer), and ZTE. The Hilco Inc. (d/b/a Hilco Global) plaintiff asserts 11 patents, each acquired from Broadcom, the set broadly directed to battery conservation, mobile alarms, and/or wireless communications. T-Mobile is accused of infringement through the provision of a wide array of smartphones, with features ranging from the incorporation of proximity sensors to compliance with various networking standards at issue.

Bell Northern Research, LLC (BNR) has filed suit against AT&T (AT&T Mobility, Cricket Wireless, Emblem Software) (4:23-cv-00789) in the Eastern District of Texas. The Hilco Inc. (d/b/a Hilco Global) plaintiff has been asserting patents received from Broadcom since August 2018, here alleging infringement of more than a dozen of them through the provision of a long list of mobile phones. The new case follows the withdrawal of an International Trade Commission (ITC) complaint as to Qualcomm (as well as the dismissal of a parallel district court case against Qualcomm), leaving ASUSTek—together with Laird Connectivity, MediaTek, and NXP Semiconductors—as respondents in that investigation.

Last month, Bell Northern Research, LLC (BNR), a Hilco Inc. (d/b/a Hilco Global) plaintiff asserting patents received from Broadcom, produced another burst of litigation, filing in the first half of the month a Western District of Texas complaint against NXP Semiconductors (1:23-cv-00633) and a Central District of California complaint against MediaTek and Qualcomm, together with D-Link, Linksys, NETGEAR, TP-Link, and Unizyx (ZyXel) (8:23-cv-01065). In the back half of June, BNR targeted ASUSTek (4:23-cv-00573) with an Eastern District of Texas complaint and then named ASUSTek—together with Laird Connectivity, MediaTek, NXP, and Qualcomm—as proposed respondents in a complaint filed before the International Trade Commission (ITC) (337-TA-3684). In that last complaint, BNR pleads a domestic industry through the activities of its “domestic licensee” Samsung, which allegedly practices the asserted patents in its Galaxy-series smartphones.

An RPX review of public records indicates that the second quarter of 2023 saw at least eight new patent infringement campaigns launched with the backing of third-party litigation funding. Also in Q2, several already existing third-party financed campaigns grew larger, with the plaintiffs hitting new defendants and/or going after familiar targets for a second or even third time.

Bell Northern Research, LLC (BNR) has filed two new cases so far in June, a first, filed in the Western District of Texas, accusing NXP Semiconductors (1:23-cv-00633) of infringing three wireless communications patents through the provision of certain systems-on-chip (SoCs) and related devices, including the NXP 88W8997 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band 2x2 Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) + Bluetooth 5.3 SoC. The same three patents are asserted in a second complaint, this one filed in the Central District of California against chipmakers MediaTek and Qualcomm, together with alleged customers D-Link, Linksys, NETGEAR, TP-Link, and ZyXel (8:23-cv-01065). Targeted there are certain MediaTek or Qualcomm “chips and/or chipsets that are used to communicate over wireless networks using the Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, and/or 802.11n standards”, with the remaining defendants tagged over “downstream products” (e.g., access points, mesh nodes, range extenders, routers, and wireless communication dongles and cards) that incorporate the accused MediaTek and Qualcomm products.

Bell Northern Research, LLC (BNR) has reset its district court case targeting the provision of Nokia-branded mobile devices. In April, BNR sued HMD Global, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Huaqin, Shenzhen Chino-E Communication, TINNO Technology (TINNO Mobile), UNISOC, and Wingtech in a Southern District of Florida complaint but has since voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice, refiling a new complaint in the same district, this time adding retailers Best Buy, Target, and Walmart (1:22-cv-22706) as defendants as well. Thirteen patents received from Broadcom are at issue.

Bell Semiconductor, LLC (Bell Semic), a Hilco Inc. (d/b/a Hilco Global) company, has acquired a portfolio of over 50 US patents from STMicro, according to assignment data recently made public by the USPTO. Bell Semic is waging a campaign asserting patents received from Broadcom, as is related plaintiff Bell Northern Research, LLC—which earlier this year, took its campaign to the International Trade Commission (ITC).

Bell Northern Research, LLC has filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against proposed respondents BBK Electronics (OnePlus), BLU Products, HMD Global, Lenovo (Motorola Mobility), Sonim, and TCL (TCT Mobile) (337-TA-3568). District court cases are already underway against several of these companies, with litigation filed by Bell Northern active against Apple, CommScope (ARRIS; Ruckus Wireless), Dell, and HP as well. The activities of one of the defendants no longer in suit in this campaign, Samsung, form the basis of the claim to a domestic industry that Bell Northern pleads, although it “reserves the right to rely on other or additional licenses, or its own substantial investments in licensing related to the Asserted Patents, to meet the domestic industry requirement”.

Multiple litigation finance players announced large fundraises during the third quarter, signaling a continued interest in the asset class by institutional investors. Also during Q3, several NPEs began new campaigns financed by third parties, including an established litigation finance firm as well as a hedge fund.

Following an early September suit against Dell, Bell Northern Research, LLC has filed suits against CommScope (ARRIS; Ruckus Wireless) (6:21-cv-00941) and HP (6:21-cv-00939) in the Western District of Texas and TCL (2:21-cv-07323) in the Central District of California over a wide variety of devices (e.g., access points, computers, gateways, routers, smartphones, and TVs). At issue are the products’ compliance with various 802.11 networking standards, as well as the incorporation of alarm systems, heat spreaders, and proximity sensors. Separately, TCL has filed a declaratory judgment (DJ) action (3:21-cv-01598) against Bell Northern in the Southern District of California, seeking a judgment of noninfringement (of the same patents and one additional patent) by the same devices.