CyWee Group Ltd., a spin-off of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), hit a roadblock in its ongoing smartphone motion-sensing campaign in early January, when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidated claims from both patents-in-suit in an inter partes review (IPR) filed by Google. Now, shortly after the PTAB released redacted, public versions of those two decisions, CyWee has filed a second lawsuit against Google (6:20-cv-00128), alleging that the company should have listed another campaign defendant, LG Electronics (LGE), as a real party in interest (RPI) in its IPRs—in which case the petitions would have been time-barred. The NPE’s complaint follows an earlier attempt to raise a similar RPI argument before the PTAB, which rejected that defense in its January final decisions.

In June 2018, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw petitioners wage validity challenges against a variety of prominent NPEs. Among those hit by petitions for AIA review in June was Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), which has not filed any new litigation in the US since October 2017, but continues to assert patents overseas; and NPEs affiliated with Fortress Investment Group LLC and Industrial Technology Research Institute. Also in June, the PTAB instituted trial for two IPRs against affiliates of top litigant IP Edge LLC, which remains the most prolific patent plaintiff of the past 18 years by the number of defendants added to US patent suits. In addition, the Board issued final decisions in IPRs against IV, the California Institute of Technology, inventor Daniel L. Flamm, and frequent litigants Realtime Data LLC and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited.

On the day of a related claim construction hearing in Texas, CyWee Group Ltd. has sued Alphabet (Google) (1:18-cv-00571) in Delaware. The hearing concerned terms from the same two patents asserted against Google, patents generally related to measuring, calculating, and outputting the movement of a device so that those movements can be translated to a two-dimensional screen. Targeted in the new complaint are the Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL smartphones and the virtual reality and/or augmented features offered by those devices, as enabled by each device’s 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, and/or 3-axis geomagnetic field sensor. This multidistrict campaign has been running through the major smartphone providers since April 2014.

CyWee Group Ltd. has filed suit against another smartphone manufacturer, adding a case against ZTE (3:17-cv-02130) to a campaign that has already seen suits against Apple, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo (Motorola Mobility), LG Electronics (LGE), and Samsung. Each complaint asserts two patents from a five-member family generally related to measuring, calculating, and outputting the movement of a device so that those movements can be translated to a two-dimensional screen. The accused products throughout the campaign have been certain smartphones and tablets, with CyWee’s complaint against ZTE naming the Axon 7, Axon 7 Mini, Blade Spark, and ZMax Pro devices.

As it did a couple of weeks ago, CyWee Group Ltd. has filed suit—twice—against an overseas corporation and its US subsidiary in a venue where that subsidiary is located. One new complaint names Huawei (2:17-cv-00495), alleging proper venue in the Eastern District of Texas for Huawei Device USA, Inc., the Plano-based domestic subsidiary because it is incorporated in Texas (and therefore “resides” in the state) and for Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., the Chinese parent, because it is “not a resident of the United States and may, therefore, be sued in any judicial district”. CyWee further alleges that the subsidiary is an agent of the parent, justifying venue based on alleged acts of infringement and the presence of a “regular and established place of business” in the district. CyWee’s new complaint against HTC (2:17-cv-00932) takes a similar approach against the Taiwanese company and its US subsidiary HTC America. In late May, CyWee filed suit against LG Electronics (the parent and a US sub) in the Southern District of California based on similar allegations about the defendants’ relationship to each other and connections to that district.

Since the US Supreme Court issued its decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, RPX has seen an upswing in venue-related filings by both plaintiffs and defendants—with indications that some NPEs may be throwing in the towel on Texas, while others are seemingly digging in. Defendants have also begun to adapt their defensive strategies, asserting more comprehensive interpretations of the patent venue statute and proactively maintaining their right to bring venue challenges down the road.

CyWee Group Ltd., a British Virgin Islands entity affiliated with Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), has added a third case to its sole litigation campaign, suing LG Electronics (LGE), together with two of its US subsidiaries in the Southern District of California (3:17-cv-01102). The new complaint asserts the same two patents (8,441,438; 8,552,978), which generally relate to measuring, calculating, and outputting the movement of a device so that those movements can be translated to a two-dimensional screen. The accused products throughout the campaign have been certain smartphones and tablets. Earlier this year, in February, CyWee asserted the ‘438 and ‘978 patents against Samsung in a case filed on the same day that an April 2014 case against Apple was dismissed.

On the same day of a dismissal in a case filed against Apple in April 2014, CyWee Group Ltd., a British Virgin Islands entity affiliated with Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), has filed a second suit asserting the same two patents (8,441,438; 8,552,978), this time against Samsung (2:17-cv-00140). The patents, the earliest two to issue from a family of three, generally relate to measuring, calculating, and outputting the movement of a device so that those movements can be translated to a two-dimensional screen. The accused products are certain Samsung smartphones and tablets.