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Lately, there’s been a lot of activity in InterDigital-related cases, both in district courts and the ITC.  Aside from the hearing in Inv. No. 337-TA-800 (scheduled to wrap up today), the respondents named in InterDigital’s latest complaint (Inv. No. 337-TA-868) — Huawei, Nokia, Samsung, and ZTE — filed their answers yesterday.  Given InterDigital’s assertion of 3G/4G cellular standard-essential patents here, it comes as no surprise to see that in addition to customary patent infringement defenses, the respondents have asserted several FRAND-specific defenses.  Below is a quick rundown of the FRAND-specific defenses asserted by the individual respondents.


Continue Reading Huawei/Samsung/ZTE answer InterDigital’s ITC complaint, assert FRAND-related defenses

e.d. tex caseIt’s well-known that concerns about patent assertions by non-practicing entities were part of the impetus for the America Invents Act of 2011.  In order to prevent multiple unrelated defendants from being added to the same infringement suit on the sole basis that they are accused of infringing the same patent, the AIA added the so-called “misjoinder” provision (35 U.S.C. § 299) to the patent laws.  Briefly, Section 299 provides that defendants are properly joined if (1) infringement is asserted against the defendants based on the same transaction or occurrence or as to the same accused product or process, and (2) questions of fact common to all defendants will arise in the action.  Over the past year and a half, courts have been grappling with evaluating whether otherwise unrelated defendants are properly joined in infringement actions.  In his recent ruling in an Eastern District of Texas case involving IEEE 802.3 Ethernet technology, Magistrate John D. Love held that standards-compliant system-on-a-chip (SoC) suppliers may be properly joined with their customers under Section 299.
Continue Reading E.D. Texas court ruling shows “system-on-a-chip”-based infringement accusations can satisfy AIA’s joinder rules (U.S. Ethernet v. Samsung)

ITC LogoAs we noted earlier this week, the ITC is currently holding the evidentiary hearing in its investigation surrounding InterDigital’s 3G standard-essential patent infringement complaint against Nokia, Huawei, and ZTE (Inv. No. 337-TA-800).  As with many ITC hearings, much of the information is kept out of the public record (and that’s particularly true for FRAND-related issues, where sensitive licensing data is often discussed).  But today, the ITC just released the public version of Order No. 70, the confidential version of which originally issued way back in September 2012.  In this order, ALJ David P. Shaw ordered InterDigital and Nokia to both produce various information relating to the FRAND affirmative defenses raised by Nokia in the case, including license agreements, license negotiation documents, and other documents relating to FRAND.
Continue Reading InterDigital, Nokia ordered to produced FRAND-related and licensing documents in ITC case (337-TA-800)

  • Yesterday, President Obama held an hour-long Google hangout to White Housetake questions from the public, and the topic of patents came up.  He answered a question about non-practicing entities and startups, and acknowledged that the America Invents Act “only went about halfway” to full patent reform.  (via Patent Progress)
  • Judge James L. Robert issued

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ITC LogoThis morning, at the U.S. International Trade Commission, the hearing commenced in In the Matter of Certain Wireless Devices with 3G Capabilities and Components Thereof (Inv. No. 337-TA-800) before presiding Administrative Law Judge David. P. Shaw.  This case involves the ITC’s investigation into allegations brought by InterDigital that respondents Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE…

cableOn 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

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

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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

In a letter sent to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office late last week,  the American Antitrust Institute expressed its approval of the USPTO’s plan to implements rules requiring patent holders to provide more transparency regarding ownership interests in patents and patent applications.  The AAI’s letter claims that, among other considerations, these transparency provisions would have positive effect on the licensing of standard-essential patents and in helping companies deal with assertions for patent assertion entities or non-practicing entities.
Continue Reading American Antitrust Institute supports USPTO’s proposal for requiring more patent ownership transparency