After multiple complaints filed earlier this year, both in the Eastern District of Texas and before the International Trade Commission (ITC), against Samsung, SiOnyx, LLC has now sued Apple (1:24-cv-12354) in the District of Massachusetts. SiOnyx asserts three patents generally related to a backside-illuminated image sensor with light-trapping pixels, all at issue in the litigation against Samsung. Apple is accused of infringement through the provision of devices, including the iPhone 15 smartphone, that incorporate certain Sony image sensors.

Following late-April complaints against Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas and before the International Trade Commission (ITC), “silicon-based photonics company” SiOnyx, LLC has filed a second East Texas case against the same defendant (2:24-cv-00408). The sole asserted patent generally relates to an image sensor with a certain design that can detect visible and infrared light; while at issue in the first district court case, the patent was subsequently dropped in an amended complaint filed on the same day as SiOnyx’s latest complaint. Samsung is accused of infringement through the provision of smartphones and tablets that incorporate the ISOCELL digital imaging sensor.

SiOnyx, LLC, a provider of night vision cameras and low light image sensors and modules, has filed complaints against Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas (2:24-cv-00291) and before the International Trade Commission (ITC) (337-TA-3744). Samsung is alleged to infringe six patents through the provision of certain smartphones, including the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip5, that include Samsung ISOCELL image sensors, targeting features for isolating pixels that allegedly incorporate light-trapping materials.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board saw the filing of petitions against a host of publicly traded NPEs in February, including Acacia Research Corporation, Pendrell Corporation, Wi-LAN Inc. (WiLAN), and Xperi Corporation (f/k/a Tessera Holding Corporation), with challenges also filed in campaigns waged by Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV); IP Bridge, Inc.; Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited; and Monument Patent Holdings, LLC.

Harvard University has started a new semiconductor campaign, asserting a family of patents generally related to vapor deposition of thin film insulators against GlobalFoundries (1:16-cv-11252) and Micron (1:16-cv-11249). In two separate lawsuits filed by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, one of the university’s two governing boards, Harvard accuses the companies of infringement through their use of atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes and materials for the manufacture of processors (GlobalFoundries) and DRAM chips (Micron). Harvard has asserted all three patents in the family against GlobalFoundries (6,969,539; 7,507,848; 8,334,016), while Micron is alleged to infringe just the ‘539 and ‘016 patents. The plaintiff entity, commonly known as the Harvard Corporation, is the oldest corporation in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, with a charter signed in 1650.