Wi-Lan, LG Case Administratively Closed

Case Filed: Aug 14, 2013

Case Closed: Nov 08, 2013

Court: New Jersey District Court

Judge: Dennis M. Cavanaugh

Case Duration: 86 Days

A patent infringement case was filed by Wi-Lan, a Canadian based patent licensing company against LG, electronics product manufacturer for violating 2 of their computer display system patents. The patents involved in the suit were:

•     US6359654 entitled Methods and systems for displaying interlaced video on non-interlaced monitors, issued on Mar 19, 2002 and expiring[i]`by Feb 12, 2017
•         US7034889 entitled Signal processing unit and method for a digital TV system with an increased frame rate video signal, issued on Apr 25, 2006 and expiring[ii]`by Jan 05, 2019

The ‘654 patent is currently assigned[iii] to Conexant Systems and ‘889 patent to Wi-Lan (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database).  As per the complaint, ‘654 patent is assigned/owned by Wi-Lan.

The ‘654 invention relates to methods and systems for displaying interlaced video on monitors which are non-interlaced and the ‘889 patent relates to a signal processing unit for a digital TV system. The complaint said, LG manufactures products including 6200 series of flat panel televisions that infringe the claims of the ‘654 and ‘889 patents.

It appears that the parties agreed and submitted a joint status letter on Oct 25, 2013, that all discovery and scheduling in the case should be stayed. Upon consideration, the Court granted stay and ordered the case to be administratively closed pending the result of New York Court’s decision on whether to compel arbitration.

See 2:13-cv-04895 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

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

Apple Wins Suit against Wi-LAN over Wireless Technology

Case Filed: Sep 01, 2011

Case Closed: Oct 25, 2013

Judge: Rodney Gilstrap

Court: Texas Eastern District Court

Case Summary:

A patent infringement case was filed by Wi-LAN, a patent holding company accusing Apple of infringing two of their patents relating to wireless communication technologies. The complaint also named Alcatel-Lucent USA, Dell, HP, HTC, Kyocera, Novatel Wireless and Sierra Wireless as other defendants in the suit. The patents in suit were:

•         RE37802 entitled Multicode direct sequence spread spectrum, issued on Jul 23, 2002
•       US5282222 entitled Method and apparatus for multiple access between transceivers in wireless communications using OFDM spread spectrum, issued on Jan 25, 1994

The patents expired[i] on Mar 31, 2012 and were last assigned[ii] to Wi-LAN (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database). The complaint alleged that defendants manufacture wireless communication products with CDMA2000 standards (including EVDO Rev. A), HSPA standards, IEEE 802.11 standards, and/or LTE standards, which fall within the scope of the claims of the ‘802 and ‘222 patents.

“By way of their infringing activities, defendants have caused and continue to cause Wi-LAN to suffer damages in an amount…”, the complaint said. Whereof, Wi-LAN requested entry of judgment in its favor, a permanent injunction barring defendants from infringing the patents-in-suit, compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest on damages, as well as attorneys' fees and litigation costs.

Apart from Apple, all defendants resolved the dispute, including Alcatel-Lucent, Dell, HP, HTC, Novatel Wireless, Sierra Wireless and Kyocera were dismissed from the case with prejudice. In Oct, jury reached a verdict favoring Apple and declared claims 1 and 10 of the ‘802 patent to be invalid. Also, the Court found Apple as the prevailing party and costs and expenses are imposed on plaintiff.

See 2:12-cv-00600 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.

HTC, Wi-LAN Settle Suit over Wireless Patent

Case Filed: Apr 11, 2013

Case Closed: Oct 02, 2013

Court: California Southern District Court

Judge: Dana M. Sabraw

Case Summary:

A patent infringement case was filed by Wi-LAN, a Canadian based patent licensing company against HTC, a handheld device manufacturer, for violating two of their wireless patents.  The patents involved in suit were:

•    US8311040 entitled ‘Packing source data packets into transporting packets with fragmentation’, legally issued on Nov 13, 2012 and expiring* by Jan 15, 2022
•    US8315640 entitled ‘Methods and systems for transmission of multiple modulated signals over wireless networks’, legally issued on Nov 20, 2012 and expiring* by May 21, 2019

The patents are currently assigned+ to Wi-LAN (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database). The ‘040 patent generally relates to packet data communications systems and reformatting data in systems before transmission. The ‘640 patent relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently allocating bandwidth between base stations and customer premises equipment in a broadband wireless communication system.

The complaint said that, defendant manufactures wireless communication products with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project – Long Term Evolution (3GPP-LTE) standard and cites Droid Incredible 4G and Evo 4G LTE as infringing products, which fall within the scope of the claims of the ‘040 and ‘640 patents.

“By way of its infringing activities, defendant has caused and continues to cause Wi-LAN to suffer damages and Wi-LAN is entitled to recover from defendant damages in an  amount…”, the complaint said. Whereof, Wi LAN requested entry of judgment in its favor, a permanent injunction barring HTC from infringing the patents-in-suit, compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest on damages, as well as attorneys' fees and litigation costs.

The parties have reached an agreement and signed a binding term sheet (“Term Sheet”) that resolves the dispute. The parties, HTC and Wi LAN jointly filed a motion to dismiss and pursuant to the stipulation filed, the Court granted and ordered the following:

•        all claims between Wi-LAN and HTC in this action are dismissed with prejudice
•        Wi-LAN and HTC each will bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees

See 3:13-cv-00871 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.