Special Master David Folsom, appointed by Eastern District of Texas Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap, has clarified that his prior order requiring CogniPower, LLC to produce for in camera review “all communications and documentation related to the [a prior art witness’s] deposition and originating from any attorney or paralegal at the firm of Irell & Manella LLP” is to include all such communications following that deposition. The due date for the production is February 18. This inquiry relates to resolving a motion for sanctions against CogniPower filed by defendant Samsung in which the allegation is that an Irell associate used at the deposition a prior art “demonstrative with an altered date”. A court-ordered deposition of that Irell associate, conducted by court appointed counsel, revealed that the “altered date” scheme may have involved at least one other lawyer at Irell.

CogniPower, LLC first sued Anker Innovations (Fantasia Trading d/b/a AnkerDirect) in December 2019 in a District of Delaware case in which Power Integrations successfully intervened. That case was reassigned to the docket of District Judge Jennifer L. Hall, after which several rulings have gone against the plaintiff. In particular, the court denied a CogniPower motion to amend its infringement contentions to include additional accused products in the case. The plaintiff has now hit Anker (1:25-cv-00066) again in the same district, this time adding certain PowerCore- and PowerPort-series products to the list of chargers already accused.

CogniPower, LLC has filed a second suit, this one in the Eastern District of Texas accusing Samsung (2:23-cv-00160) of infringing five patents through the provision of products that “implement power conversion, management and regulation technology using DPR [demand pulse regulation] technology”, including certain power adapters and chargers. The plaintiff further describes the products as incorporating controllers from companies such as Dialog Semiconductor, Diodes, Power Integrations, and/or Renesas Electronics, none named as a defendant. Power Integrations successfully moved to intervene in CogniPower’s first case, filed in Delaware in December 2019 against Anker Innovations (Fantasia Trading).