Lenovo, Fujitsu, Dell, in Litigation over Memory Access Method

Case Summary:

Wilmington-based, non-practicing entity, Micro Design filed a complaint against computer technology companies including: Lenovo, Fujitsu, Dell, NEC and ASUSTeK. The suit concerned the companies’ infringement of a U.S. patent covering communications among processors, coprocessors and memory. The cases were filed on Jun 27, 2014 in Delaware District Court.

Patent-in-Suit:

The patent at issue is: US7437535 ‘Method and apparatus for issuing a command to store an instruction and load resultant data in a microcontroller,’ duly issued by USPTO on Oct 14, 2008 and expiring[i] by Apr 04, 2022. The patent has been through multiple assignees including: Net Navigation Systems and Clearwater Innovations. Micro Design is the current assignee[ii] of the patent (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database.) The ‘535 patent describes a method of providing single-cycle instruction (store-and-load) that stores a command to a co-processor to automatically process data and that loads resultant processed data.

As in Complaint:

Lenovo infringed the patent by designing microprocessors that contain the claimed combinations of the patented technology, including the processor, co-processor and memory accessing features. The accused products include: ThinkStation C30, D30 and S30. The complaint stated that Lenovo’s actions aid and abet others (such as their partners and customers) to infringe using the accused products by advertising and distributing the accused products.

The complaints filed against other defendants were substantially similar.  Micro Design sought damages from all the defendants and demanded a jury trial.

See 1:14-cv-00840 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

Max-Insight enables you to access all of our patent tools such as Patent Term Estimator, Patent Family Tree, Has This Patent Been Litigated, etc. in one location. Max-Insight is available in 4 different subscriptions: Free, Bronze, Silver and Gold with varying usage levels. To learn more about Max-Insight, click here.

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[i] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

[ii] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

Dell, Power Management Enterprises Settle suit over Cache Memory Patents

Case Filed: Aug 19, 2013

Case Closed: Apr 08, 2014

Court: Texas Eastern District Court

Judge: Rodney Gilstrap

Case Summary:

Texas-based patent holding company, Power Management Enterprises (PME) accused Dell of violating patent rights claiming that Dell have infringed two of its patents covering management of computer memory systems and preventing data loss.  It also filed seven other suits in the Eastern District of Texas against companies such as Toshiba, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, etc.

The asserted patents include US5895488 entitled ‘Cache flushing methods and apparatus’ and US5895485 entitled ‘Method and device using a redundant cache for preventing the loss of dirty data’ and were issued on Apr 20, 1999. The patents are scheduled to expire[i] by Feb 24, 2017 and are currently assigned[ii] to PME (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database).

The ‘488 patent describes a method and device for managing a cache containing data that has not been committed to persistent storage. The ‘485 patent describes a method and device using redundant cache for preventing the loss of data that has not been committed to persistent memory.

The complaint alleges that Dell, manufactures, uses, offers for sale, or sells disk storage systems, including the Dell PowerVault MD3000 storage array that practice each limitation set forth in at least claim 6 and 8 of the ‘485 and ‘488 patents, respectively. The suit sought the Court to award damages to PME in an amount including pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.

The parties announced to the Court that they have reached a resolution in this action and filed a notice to dismiss all the claims and counterclaims with prejudice. The Court considering the request granted the dismissal with each party incurring their own costs and expenses.

All the other suits filed by PME asserting either the '488 patent alone or both the patents were also dismissed with prejudice.

See 2:13-cv-00639 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

Max-Insight enables you to access all of our patent tools such as Patent Term Estimator, Patent Family Tree, Has This Patent Been Litigated, etc. in one location. Max-Insight is available in 4 different subscriptions: Free, Bronze, Silver and Gold with varying usage levels. To learn more about Max-Insight, click here. 

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[i] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents

[ii] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

Dell, Inmotion Imagery Technologies Settle Patent Dispute over Video Indexing

Case Filed: Oct 02, 2012

Case Closed: Dec 09, 2013

Court: Texas Eastern District Court

Judge: Roy S. Payne

Case Summary:

Inmotion Imagery Technologies accused Dell of infringing 2 of their patents related to video indexing. According to our Litigation Database, Texas-based Inmotion sued 20 companies such as Samsung, Asus, Fujitsu, Netflix, etc. in the same court for infringing the same patent(s) since 2010.

In dispute were the patents US6526219 and US8150239 both entitled ‘Picture-based video indexing system’ issued on Feb 25, 2003 and Apr 03, 2012. The patents expire[i] by Nov 02, 2015 and are currently assigned[ii] to Inmotion (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database).

The patents describe video indexing technologies that enable the use of pictures and motion images, which are representative of a recorded video program, to assist a user by displaying or navigating the contents of the recorded video program.

Inmotion alleged that Dell has infringed the ‘219 and ‘239 patents by making, using and offering products capable of indexing videos with images that are displayed in windows wherein at least one window displays motion imagery, such as Dell XPS laptop and other similar products.

The case is concluded as the parties entered into settlement agreement and filed joint motion to dismiss the case. The Court granted the motion filed and ordered all claims be dismissed with prejudice and counterclaims be dismissed without prejudice. The details of the settlement were not disclosed. Each party will bear its own costs and fees.

See 2:12-cv-00624 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

Patent Term Estimator, use our free tool or download our free Android app on Google Play Store. 

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[i] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

[ii] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

Dell, J.S.T Settle Lawsuit over Electric Connector

Case Filed: Dec 18, 2012

Case Closed: Nov 13, 2013

Case Duration: 330 Days

Court: Illinois Northern District Court

Judge: Harry D. Leinenweber

Case Summary:

J.S.T. Mfg. Co., Ltd. manufactures and distributes electronic connectors for automotive applications worldwide. The Japan based company claimed Dell’s Latitude E6320/E6420/E6520 model computers violate one of its patents.  The patent in suit was: US7011543 entitled ‘Electric Connector’ issued on Mar 14, 2006 and expiring^[i] by Sep 30, 2023.  J.S.T. Mfg. Co., Ltd is the current assignee^[ii] of the ‘543 patent (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database).

The ‘543 patent relates to an electric connector having a retention structure for preventing an insulated wire coming off in the vertical direction at right angles to the wire’s axis. The complaint said, Dell infringed the ‘543 patent by manufacturing and commercializing electronic devices that embody the patented invention and will continue to do so unless enjoined by this court.

The case is concluded as the parties informed the Court that they have entered into a written settlement agreement. As a part of the agreement the parties filed for dismissal, pursuant to which the Court ordered claims and counterclaims to be dismissed with prejudice. Each party will bear their own costs and expenses. Further terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

See 1:12-cv-10069 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

* Expected expiration date using Patent Term Estimator, use our free tool or download our free Android app on Google Play Store.

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[i] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

[ii] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

Mosaid Technologies, Dell et al. Settle suit over Wi-Fi Patents

Case Filed: Mar 16, 2011

Case Closed: Nov 05, 2013

Judge:   Michael H. Schneider

Court: Texas Western District Court

Case Duration: 965 Days

Case Summary:

Mosaid develops semiconductor memory technology and licenses patented intellectual property in the areas of semiconductors, and wired and wireless communications systems. It accused about 25 companies of breaching their Wi-Fi patents including:

• Dell
• Research in Motion Corporation
• Datalogic
• Informatics Holdings
• Venture Research
• Asus Computer International
• Lexmark International
• Canon
• Digi International
• Intel
• Marvell Semiconductor
• Realtek Semiconductor and
• Few others

In its complaint, Mosaid claimed that defendants infringed Mosaid's patents by making and selling products that comply with or implement the IEEE 802.11 family of communications standards, known as “Wi-Fi". The patents in suit are:

Patent Number Current/Last Assignee+	Issue Date	Expiration Date*	Title
US6992972 Royal Bank of Canada	Jan 31, 2006	Jan 06, 2018	Frequency division multiplexing system with selectable rate
US5131006 Mosaid	Jul 14, 1992	Sep 06, 2010	Carrier detection for a wireless local area network
US5151920 Mosaid	Sep 29, 1992	Sep 10, 2011	Radio LAN station with improved frame delimiter detection in a spread spectrum environment
US5422887 Royal Bank of Canada	Jun 06, 1995	Jun 06, 2012	Medium access protocol for wireless local area network
US5706428 Royal Bank of Canada	Jan 06, 1998	Mar 14, 2016	Multirate wireless data communication system
US6563786 Royal Bank of Canada	May 13, 2003	Jan 06, 2018	Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system with selectable rate

Source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database.

Plaintiff wanted the Court to declare a judgment in favor against defendants besides a claim for damages.

The parties settled the case, as a result of which Datalogic and Digi International were dismissed from the case in the year 2011. Later, Mosaid filed an agreed motion to dismiss RIM, Murata Electronics, Sychip, pursuant to which the Court granted dismissal. All the other defendants including, Dell, Informatics, Wasp Barcode, Venture Research, Huawei, Futurewei, Wistron, SMS Infocomm, ASUSteK, Asus, Lexmark, Canon, Intel, Atheros, Marvell Semiconductor, Realtek, Ralink Technology, CSR  were dismissed from the case with/without prejudice.

See 2:11-cv-00179 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

* Expected expiration date using Patent Term Estimator, use our free tool or download our free Android app on Google Play Store. 

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+ MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

* Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

Dell, Online News Link Settle Suit over Internet Links

Case Filed: Aug 12, 2013

Case Closed: Nov 04, 2013

Judge: Sam Sparks

Court: Texas Western District Court

Case Duration: 84 Days

Case Summary:

A patent infringement case was filed by Online News Link against Dell claiming that three of their patents that describe a method of inserting links into online newspapers and other media were infringed. The patents in suit were: US7508789, US7181758 and US8457545 all entitled ‘Information distribution and processing system’. The patents were legally issued on Mar 24, 2009, Feb 20, 2007 and Jun 04, 2013, respectively. The ‘789 and ‘545 patents expire* by Apr 07, 2014 and the ‘758 patent expires* by Jul 25, 2014. Online News Link is the current assignee+ of the patents-in-suit (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database).

The Court document said Dell infringed the above patents by making use of the patented technology, information distribution system(s) that transmit(s) email communications containing user-selectable links associated with data on a server. Plaintiff sought the Court for relief including a judgment the patents-in-suit have been infringed, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, permanent injunction, damages, costs and expenses incurred.

The parties announced to Court that they have settled the case among themselves, after which stipulation of dismissal was filed by Dell and Online News Link on Oct 31. Upon consideration, the Court granted the motion and ordered all claims asserted against Dell be dismissed with prejudice, thereby closing the case. Each party will bear their own costs and expenses. Further details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Similarly, plaintiff filed suits against HP and Amazon asserting the same patents, which was also settled recently.

See 1:13-cv-00680 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

* Expected expiration date using Patent Term Estimator, use our free tool or download our free Android app on Google Play Store. 

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* Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

 + MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

Dell Settles Suit with NPE

Case Filed: Dec 02, 2011

Case Closed: Jun 12, 2013

Judge: Leonard Davis

Other Defendants: Mobile, Casio America, Google, Leap Wireless International, LG, MetroPCS Communications, Palm, Radioshack Corporation, Sony, Sprint Nextel Corporation, Sprint Solutions,  T-Mobile USA, United States Cellular Corporation, Verizon Communications, Virgin Mobile USA, ZTE, Kyocera Communications, HTC, Motorola Mobility, Huawei Technologies, Pantech Wireless, Sharp Electronics Corporation, Cellco Partnership (DBA Verizon Wireless) and STX Wireless Operations

Court: Texas Eastern District Court

Case Summary:

Garnet Digital sued AT&T, Apple, Dell, Samsung, RIM and several other defendants for patent infringement and included a claim for indirect infringement. Garnet Digital accused all of the defendants of infringing patent US5379421, which is entitled Interactive Terminal for the Access of Remote Database Information. The patent was issued on Jan 03, 1995 and expired[i] on Jan 03, 2012. The patent was last assigned[ii] to Garnet Digital (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database). 

The allegations made against each of the defendants are as follows: "[Defendant] directly or through intermediaries, made, had made, used, imported, provided, supplied, distributed, sold, and/or offered for sale products and/or systems (including at least [Defendant's product(s)]) that infringed one or more claims of the ‘421 patent, and/or induced infringement and/or contributed to the infringement of one or more of the claims of the 421 patent by its customers." The accused products were iPhones, Samsung smartphones, Dell Venue smartphones, and BlackBerry smartphones, etc. 

The case was ongoing and the defendants consecutively were dismissed from the case on filing joint motion to dismiss. The last one to settle the case was Dell, where the parties reached agreement and filed for dismissal on Jun 10. Upon consideration, the Court ordered all claims and counter claims be dismissed and each party to bear their own costs and expenses. 

See 6:11-cv-00647 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

Patent Term Estimator, use our free tool or download our free Android app on Google Play Store.

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[i] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

[ii] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.

NovelPoint, Dell Settle Patent Suit

Case Filed: Feb 01, 2013

Case Closed: Jun 04, 2013

Judge: Rodney Gilstrap

Court: Texas Eastern District Court

Case Summary:

A patent infringement suit was filed by NovelPoint Security against Dell asserting their patents were infringed. The patent involved in the suit was US5434562, entitled Method for limiting computer access to peripheral devices, which issued on Jul 18, 1995 and expired[1] on Jul 18, 2012. The patent is currently assigned[2] to NovelPoint (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database). 

The complaint stated that the defendant infringed the ‘562 patent by manufacturing a computer security system/method including encrypted storage drives such as Seagate Momentus FDE hard drive. 

The parties have reached a settlement which ends the case. Stipulated motion for dismissal was filed and the Court upon consideration, ordered that the claims and counterclaims be dismissed with prejudice. No further information is available on the terms of settlement.

Another case filed by NovelPoint against Dell over the patent US6442485, which was also concluded on the same day.

See 2:13-cv-00080 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

Has this patent been litigated? Use our free tool or download our free Android/iOS app on Google Play/ App Store.

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[1] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

[2] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.