It’s no surprise that most of the attention being paid to standard-essential patent issues is focused on the companies involved in the “smartphone wars” — Motorola, Microsoft, Apple. Samsung, etc. But while these consumer product companies are of course affected by issues involving standard-essential patents, so too are their component suppliers. A lawsuit filed this past fall in the Southern District of New York by Lotes Co. against Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Foxconn over SEP issues relating to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 standard is a great example of this. Here, we attempt to provide a brief overview of the issues in the Lotes-Hon Hai case.
Continue Reading Catching up on…Lotes v. Foxconn RAND/antitrust dispute over USB 3.0 standard-essential patents
Intellectual Ventures targets DSL providers in massive new patent infringement complaints
On Friday, February 8, noted and sometimes infamous patent aggregator Intellectual Ventures filed three large patent infringement complaints in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. In the complaints, Intellectual Ventures accuses several providers of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) services of infringing 19 patents that, according to IV, “cover fundamental and important aspects of DSL technology and services.” The DSL providers targeted by IV in these suits include AT&T, SBC, CenturyLink, Embarq, Qwest, Savvis, Windsteam, and PAETEC.
Continue Reading Intellectual Ventures targets DSL providers in massive new patent infringement complaints
Non-practicing entity AIM IP files new infringement suits over VoIP standard-essential patent
Two new SEP-related patent infringement complaints were filed this week in the Central District of California by AIM IP, a non-practicing entity based in Mission Viejo, CA. These complaints accuse Aastra USA, Inc. and AudioCodes, Inc. each of infringing claims of U.S. Patent No. 5,920,853, titled “Signal Compression Using Index Mapping Technique for the Sharing of Quantization Tables.” AIM IP accuses various Aastra and AudioCodes Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) devices of infringing the patent based on the devices’ compliance with and use of the ITU G.729 audio compression standard.
[UPDATE] After this was originally posted, we discovered several additional new suits filed by AIM IP over the ‘853 patent. These were filed against ClearOne, Digium, Media5, Obihai, and Patton Electronics, and are linked to below. [/UPDATE]Continue Reading Non-practicing entity AIM IP files new infringement suits over VoIP standard-essential patent
A rundown of pending SEP-related Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) is a quasi-judicial agency with broad investigative powers relating to trade practices. These powers include the ability to investigate unfair trade practices relating to the importation of products that infringe valid U.S. patents — so-called “Section 337 actions” (Section 337 actions can encompass other conduct, but are commonly used to target patent infringement). But because the ITC may only issue injunctive relief (via exclusion orders and cease & desist orders), and cannot award monetary damages, the assertion of standard-essential patents in Section 337 actions has become a subject of great debate. Within about a month, the Commission will issue a Final Determination in Investigation No. 337-TA-794 (involving Samsung and Apple) that may address the propriety of asserting FRAND-pledged SEPs in Section 337 actions. In the meantime, however, there are several ongoing ITC investigations where standard-essential patents are being asserted. Below is a brief summary of where each of these cases currently stand:
Continue Reading A rundown of pending SEP-related Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission
Acacia Research subsidiary Adaptix files new ITC complaint accusing Ericsson of infringing 4G LTE-essential patent
Assertion of standard-essential patents are all the rage at the ITC these days, with an upcoming trial on InterDigital’s claims (Inv. No. 337-TA-800), another recent complaint filed by InterDigital, dueling Ericsson-Samsung complaints, and the highly anticipated Final Determination in ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-794 involving Apple and Samsung due in March. And today, a company named Adaptix — a subsidiary of noted non-practicing entity Acacia Research — threw its hat into the ring, firing off a Section 337 complaint accusing Ericsson’s 4G LTE base stations of infringing U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,808, titled “Channel Allocation in Broadband Orthoganol Frequency-Division Multiple-Access/Space-Division Multiple-Access Networks.” But this might not be your typical standard-essential patent case — it has a couple of twists.
Continue Reading Acacia Research subsidiary Adaptix files new ITC complaint accusing Ericsson of infringing 4G LTE-essential patent
InterDigital, Nokia, others dispute public interest implications of 3G/4G patent assertions
Earlier this month, InterDigital Communications filed a Section 337 complaint with the ITC, alleging that Samsung, Nokia, ZTE, and Huawei infringed several of InterDigital’s 3G and 4G-essential patents. As we noted in our earlier post on the matter, InterDigital included a statement regarding the public interest along with its complaint, attempting to preemptively assuage any public interest concerns the Commission may have due to the inclusion of standard-essential patents in the complaint. Over the past two weeks, though, the proposed respondents have each filed their own public interest statements with the ITC, asserting a number of reasons why the public interest might be adversely affected by the institution of an investigation based on InterDigital’s complaint.
Continue Reading InterDigital, Nokia, others dispute public interest implications of 3G/4G patent assertions
Steelhead Licensing expands cellular-essential patent assertion activities
Early in January we noted that a non-practicing entity named Steelhead Licensing had filed a number of complaints for patent infringement against various wireless device manufacturers and cellular carriers. Of particular note in those suits was that the patent at issue in all of the actions — U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,834, entitled “Mobile Radio Handover Initiation Determination” — was previously owned by British Telecom, is due to expire next month, and (according to Steelhead, apparently) is essential to various 3G and 4G wireless communications standards. On Friday, January 11, Steelhead expanded its assertion activities relating to the ‘834 patent, filing infringement actions against Acer, Amazon.com, Asustek, and Dell.
Continue Reading Steelhead Licensing expands cellular-essential patent assertion activities
Catching up on . . . the Samsung-Apple ITC action (Inv. No. 337-TA-794)
Because so many SEP-related issues have arisen over the past year, we will periodically revisit some of the more important episodes with a brief post. Next month, the U.S. International Trade Commission will issue a Final Determination in In the Matter of Certain Electronic Devices, Including Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, and Tablet Computers (No. 337-TA-794), a Section 337 patent infringement action brought by Samsung against Apple. This presents us with a timely opportunity to discuss the background of some of the SEP and FRAND-related issues of first impression that may be decided by the Commission in the case.
The Samsung-Apple ITC investigation (337-TA-794) originated with a complaint brought by Samsung against Apple back in June 2011, in which Samsung accused various Apple products of infringing five patents. Two of these patents — U.S. Pat Nos. 7,706,348 and 7,486,644 — were alleged by Samsung to be essential to the UMTS 3G cellular standard. Not surprisingly, Apple claimed that Samsung’s FRAND obligations with respect to these SEPs prevent Samsung from receiving an exclusion order, in the event Apple is found to violate Section 337.Continue Reading Catching up on . . . the Samsung-Apple ITC action (Inv. No. 337-TA-794)
Steelhead Licensing LLC files suit claiming wireless equipment makers and cellular carriers infringe cellular-essential patent
On Friday, January 4, 2013, a non-practicing entity named Steelhead Licensing LLC filed a litany of SEP-related lawsuits in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against various wireless device manufacturers and cellular carriers. Each of the entities is accused of infringing a single, soon-to-expire (on Feb. 13) patent — U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,834, entitled “Mobile Radio Handover Initiation Determination.”
Continue Reading Steelhead Licensing LLC files suit claiming wireless equipment makers and cellular carriers infringe cellular-essential patent
Google agrees to forego seeking injunctive relief for SEP infringement as part of FTC settlement
In a press conference that took place at 1pm Eastern time today, the United States Federal Trade Commission announced that it has entered into a consent decree with Google in which Google agreed to forego seeking injunctive relief as a remedy for infringement of SEPs that have been pledged to be licensed on RAND terms. The FTC voted 4-1 in favor of the decision, with Commissioner Maureen Olhausen dissenting.
Continue Reading Google agrees to forego seeking injunctive relief for SEP infringement as part of FTC settlement