Most nonpracticing entities are private firms owned by patent attorneys, investors, or a combination of the two. In other cases, NPEs do everything they can to obscure the identify of the true owner. And in virtually all...more
VirnetX is a classic example of an NPE that does not qualify as a “patent troll.” How can you tell? Patent trolls leverage the litigation system to negotiate settlements for less than the cost of defending against a lawsuit....more
This is the latest in the series titled “NPE Showcase,” where we discuss high-volume non-practicing entities (or as some call them, “patent trolls”). This installment will focus on a company named Web 2.0 Technologies, LLC....more
This is the latest in the series titled “NPE Showcase,” where we discuss high-volume non-practicing entities (or as some call them, “patent trolls”). This installment will focus on a company named InvesTrex, LLC....more
This is the latest in the series titled “NPE Showcase,” where we discuss high-volume non-practicing entities (or as some call them, “patent trolls”). This installment will focus on NPE litigation as a whole, and what to...more
The number of Non-Practicing Entities (NPE) cases has increased in Delaware by almost 10% over the last year. If you or a client finds yourself the target of an NPE patent litigation suit, the next question is usually what...more
A number of small providers are receiving patent demand letters with a settlement or licensing offer to avoid litigation. How should you respond? Should you respond? Many of these letters are a typical part of the playbook of...more
Over the past two decades, the term “patent troll,” or the more politically correct “NPE” (i.e., non-practicing entity), has become aligned with no company more than Intellectual Ventures (“IV”). ...more
Sound View Innovations, an IP licensing company that is quickly becoming a prolific Non-Practicing Entity (NPE), has ramped up its litigation campaign by filing seven more lawsuits in 2019. Similar to the patent lawsuits that...more
In its latest filing in February 2019, non-practicing entity Akoloutheo, LLC has expanded its Eastern District of Texas patent litigation campaign to include Oracle. Akoloutheo accuses the Oracle Analytics Cloud, Oracle...more
With three new filings in February 2019 against household names like Macy’s, Best Buy, and Lululemon, Vindolor, LLC—a non-practicing entity—has expanded its contactless “tap-to-pay” point-of-sale patent litigation assault to...more
Since launching Cloud IPQ last year, we have focused on the intersection of cloud computing and intellectual property with a particular emphasis on the increasing number of patent lawsuits filed against cloud computing...more
Global Equity Management (SA) Pty. Ltd. (“GEMSA”), a foreign non-practicing entity (“NPE”) organized under the laws of Australia, filed almost 40 patent lawsuits in five batches in 2015 and 2016. The majority of these...more
Since 2013, Charles C. Freeny III, Bryan E. Freeny, and James P. Freeny (“the Freenys”) have filed more than 50 patent infringement cases, all in the Eastern District of Texas, against a variety of technology companies who...more
Needless to say, a finding of exceptionality under 35 U.S.C. § 285 can have crippling consequences. Just ask Rembrandt Technologies, LP, which recently was slapped with an order to pay the prevailing defendants in a...more
The U.S. patent system has long struggled to strike a balance that both encourages patent rights and prevents patent abuse. Finding that balance requires giving patent owners the right amount of patent enforcement power,...more
DeLorme Seeks Certiorari Review Of Consent Order Penalty Based On Expired Patent — On July 13, 2016, DBN Holding, Inc. and BDN LLC (“DeLorme”) filed a petition for writ of certiorari to review a judgment of the United States...more
The Federal Circuit, in In re: TC Heartland LLC (No. 2016-105), recently issued an opinion denying TC Heartland’s petition for a writ of mandamus to direct the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to either...more
In what is potentially the largest “patent troll” verdict in history, Apple has lost a $625 million patent jury award to VirnetX, according to Reuters news service. The jury verdict in the Eastern District of Texas includes...more
Admittedly, only on its Op-Ed page. But last Saturday Joe Nocera wrote a remarkably sane and reasoned column, entitled "The Patent Troll Smokescreen," pointing out that "big companies with large lobbying budgets" are using...more
On October 19, 2015, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in two related cases: Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. (Supreme Court docket number 14-1513) and Stryker Corp. v. Zimmer, Inc. (Supreme Court docket...more
Since the America Invents Act (AIA) passed in 2012, Covered Business Method (CBM) reviews have become the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of non-practicing entities, also referred to as patent trolls. Many CBM...more
A new Oklahoma law should give would-be plaintiffs pause before alleging abusive patent infringement claims. In May, Governor Fallin signed into law HB 2837, making Oklahoma one of 18 states to enact a state bill aimed at...more
United States antitrust law seeks to encourage free and open competition by preventing exclusionary conduct that threatens the competitive process. Intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, by contrast, are designed to...more
When a non-practicing entity (NPE) accused 16,000 small businesses of violating its patent by merely emailing scanned documents, the New York attorney general cracked down, forcing a settlement. Then the FTC threatened to sue...more