MicroPairing Technologies LLC has revived its sole litigation campaign, launched in October 2020 with suits against GM and Toyota, with a case against BMW (2:24-cv-00259) in the District of New Jersey. The plaintiff asserts three patents generally related to an application management system in a multiprocessor system, with the defendant accused of infringement through the provision of automobiles equipped with the BMW iDrive infotainment system. At issue are features related to Bluetooth device pairing, data transfer, and handsfree calling.

As recently reported by RPX in its Q3 in Review, NPE litigation targeting the Automotive sector increased during the third quarter by over 180%. Several familiar faces in the patent monetization space launched or expanded automotive campaigns in Q3, including multiple NPEs tied by public records to third-party litigation funders. While the number of defendants sued in automotive campaigns remains relatively low as compared to other busy sectors, the litigation activity of several established plaintiffs in this space reflects sustained NPE interest.

MicroPairing Technologies LLC has filed separate Middle District of Tennessee suits against Mitsubishi (3:21-cv-00631) and Nissan (3:21-cv-00633), the two automakers joining GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, and Toyota, all of which have active cases against them in this campaign—two each, in fact, for GM and Toyota. In late July, the plaintiff filed additional suits against each of those defendants in the Western District of Texas, asserting three more patents apiece. Ten patents total are now asserted, in overlapping sets, across the campaign’s cases, now filed in Tennessee, as well as California and Texas.

MicroPairing Technologies LLC has turned to the Central District of California for its second round of cases over patents previously asserted by Eagle Harbor Holdings, L.L.C. and MediusTech LLC against Ford. The plaintiff has sued Honda (2:21-cv-04034), Hyundai (8:21-cv-00881), Kia (8:21-cv-00882), and Mazda (8:21-cv-00885) there. October 2020 defendants GM and Toyota have each filed separate motions to dismiss MicroPairing’s inducement of infringement claims before District Judge Alan D. Albright. Toyota has also challenged three of the seven patents asserted against it as invalid for lack of written description, arguing that the plaintiff is collaterally estopped from contending otherwise, based on that prior litigation against Ford.

MicroPairing Technologies LLC has acquired a portfolio of patents previously asserted by Eagle Harbor Holdings, L.L.C. and MediusTech LLC against Ford. The new owner has charged GM (6:20-cv-01001) and Toyota (6:20-cv-01002) with infringement of identical sets of seven patents, each through the provision of infotainment systems in certain of their vehicles. The stated philosophy of the IP advisory firm of one of MicroPairing’s managing members—“give up being ‘nomadic’, and become ‘farmers’ and ‘ranchers’, raising our crops and cattle, like all advanced civilization”—suggests that additional assertion activity will sprout from this portfolio of assets.