Earlier this month, we posted about the Innovation Act passed by the House of Representatives, a bill intended to regulate perceived abusive patent litigation tactics by certain patent assertion entities (what some refer to as “patent trolls”). Last week, the Senate debated the merits of the bill as well as a competing bill proposed by
2013
ITC rules no infringement of valid Interdigital 3G patents (Inv. No. 337-TA-800)
On Dec. 19, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Huawei, Nokia and ZTE did not infringe any valid Interdigital alleged 3G patents and, therefore, did not rule on RAND or public interest issues in that investigation (discussed in our prior post). The ITC is reserving those issues for consideration in due course…
IEEE speaks-out on RAND commitments in Ericsson v. D-Link appeal (Fed. Cir. No. 2013-1625)
Last week, on Dec. 20, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) filed an amicus brief (not supporting any side) in the appeals to the Federal Circuit from the jury award and RAND rulings by Judge Leonard Davis in E.D. Tex. concerning three of Ericsson’s 802.11 Wi-Fi patents. Our August post discussed the…
Zenith and MPEG LA move to dismiss ViewSonic’s FRAND-related counterclaims
A few weeks ago, we posted about ViewSonic’s FRAND-related counterclaims against Zenith, Panasonic and Philips (collectively, “Manufacturing Plaintiffs”), as well as its FRAND-related Third-Party claim against MPEG LA. On Monday, December 16, the Manufacturing Plaintiffs and third-party MPEG LA filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice ViewSonic’s FRAND-related counterclaims for failure to state a claim…
Microsoft responds that Ninth Circuit jurisdiction is law of the case in RAND dispute with Motorola (Fed. Cir. 14-1089)
Last week Microsoft filed a reply supporting its motion to transfer to the Ninth Circuit Motorola’s appeal of Judge Robart’s RAND ruling (see our prior posts on Microsoft’s motion and Motorola’s opposition). Microsoft argues that the Ninth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction under law of the case, because issues of the contract action being consolidated…
ALJ agrees to dismiss Adaptix’s complaint and investigation against Ericsson (Inv. No. 337-TA-871)
Last week Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Gildea granted Adaptix’s motion to withdraw its Complaint and investigation of Ericsson’s alleged infringement of patents alleged to cover LTE standards used by Ericsson’s base stations (see our prior posts discussing Adaptix’s motion and Ericsson’s response).
ALJ Gildea’s ruling was short and succinct, noting–but not opining on–Ericsson’s assertion…
Curtis Int’l moves to bifurcate Zenith’s infringement action to address liability before adjudicating its FRAND-related defenses
We recently posted about defendant ViewSonic’s Answer in Zenith Elec. v. Viewsonic, which Answer included FRAND-related affirmative defenses and counterclaims against plaintiffs Zenith, Panasonic and Philips, as well as a FRAND-related Third-Party claim against MPEG LA. On Monday, December 2, Curtis filed a motion to bifurcate the trial in the related case brought by Zenith…
Ericsson asserts that Adaptix is withdrawing its ITC Complaint under threat of a motion for sanctions given unsubstantiated claims (Inv. No. 337-TA-871)
Today Ericsson filed its response to Adaptix’s sudden motion to withdraw its Complaint and terminate the ITC’s investigation of whether Ericsson’s base stations infringe an Adaptix patent alleged to cover cellular LTE standards. Recall from our post last week that it was not clear why Adaptix made this extraordinary step on the eve of trial.…
Motorola opposes Microsoft’s motion to transfer to Ninth Circuit the appeal of Judge Robart’s RAND ruling (Fed. Cir. 14-1089)
Motorola has filed its opposition to Microsoft’s motion to transfer the appeal of Judge Robart’s RAND ruling from the Federal Circuit to the Ninth Circuit (see our prior blog on Microsoft’s motion). Recall that Microsoft argued that the appealed action was a contract action, its nature did not change when that action was consolidated…
House Passes Patent Reform Bill: A Summary of the Innovation Act’s Essential Provisions
Last Thursday, December 5, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309 (“the Innovation Act”), a patent reform bill generally directed to perceived patent litigation abuse by certain patent assertion entities (what some call “patent trolls”). Prior draft versions of the House bill had gone through several revisions in the past few months (see our September…
