The Federal Circuit has affirmed the Alice invalidation of a messaging patent (5,826,034) asserted by Novo Transforma Technologies, LLC against AT&T (1:14-cv-00610), Verizon (Cellco) (1:14-cv-00616), T-Mobile (1:14-cv-00613), SOFTBANK (Nextel, Sprint, Virgin Mobile) (1:14-cv-00612), and a host of other wireless carriers. In a per curiam order issued on September 23 without an accompanying opinion (2015-2012), the court upheld a September 2015 grant of judgment on the pleadings by District Judge Richard Andrews, who had found that the ‘034 patent was directed to the abstract idea of “translation”, and lacked a sufficient inventive concept to convey patentability.

In the past two months, three NPEs with ties to Robert A. Westerland—IP Communication Solutions, LLC, Content Aggregation Solutions LLC, and Nova Intellectual Solutions, LLC—have filed nearly 20 cases against a total of 18 operating companies, including Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Huawei, HTC, LG Electronics, Sharp, Sony, and ZTE. These NPEs’ principal place of business, according to their complaints, is a luxury condominium in Dallas, Texas owned by Westerlund—a well-known patent attorney, patent broker, and inventor connected to NPEs that have litigated both patents issuing to Westerlund and patents issuing to others but subsequently acquired for assertion.

Novo Transforma Technologies filed seven new suits this week against AT&T, Verizon, Iowa Wireless Services, Sprint, T-Mobile, TracFone Wireless, and United States Cellular Corp. Defendants’ multimedia messaging products are accused of infringing a patent related to communications through different media such as e-mail and fax (5,826,034). Novo has asserted the ‘034 patent in 23 suits against more than 14 parent companies, all wireless carriers, since April 2013. The patent-in-suit originates from AT&T/Lucent spin out Paradyne, which was acquired by Zhone Technologies in September 2005. Novo Transforma appears to be one of at least ten enforcement campaigns that have been launched since Zhone assigned 58 patents to Robert Westerlund’s Patent Business Development in February 2011. The ‘034 patent was assigned to Clearwater Innovations in May 2012, then to Internet Voice Solutions, and finally to Novo Transforma in June 2013. 5/16, Delaware District Court, 1:14cv00610, 1:14cv00611, 1:14cv00612, 1:14cv00613, 1:14cv00614, 1:14cv00615, 1:14cv00616