VDPP video stitching patent challenge instituted

On January 24, 2025, six weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 10,021,380, owned and asserted by VDPP LLC, an NPE. The specification of ‘380 patent discloses video methods for creating the optical illusion of perpetual motion, which the applicant deemed “Eternalism,” and to special glasses (called “3Deeps”) that can be used for creating three-dimensional effects from two-dimensional videos. The claims, however, are broadly drafted and have been asserted against various video zooming, image enhancement, and image combination technologies. The patent has been asserted over 55 times but most recently against Ford, Kyocera, Amazon, MediaTek, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Mercedes-Benz, Razer, and others.

View district court litigations by VDPP. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, Jessica L.A. Marks and David Seastrunk.

To view the reexamination request, visit Unified’s Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90019781

$10,000 for Dominion Harbor entity, Arlington Technologies, networking patents prior art

Unified Patents added five new PATROLL contests, each with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on the list below. The patents are owned by Arlington Technologies LLC, an NPE and entity of Dominion Harbor Group. The patents relate to various technologies and two of the patents have been asserted against Comcast.

The contests will expire on February 28, 2025. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for these contests.

US 11,381,626 Video Codec for High Resolution and High Frame Rate Video

US 10,735,258 Self-allocating Resources

US 9,507,015 Device Proximity Detection

US 7,324,491 Over-the-air Bandwidth Reservations in Wireless Networks

US 7,193,986 Wireless Network MAC Protocol

AutoNavigare mobile app control patent challenged

On January 24, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 9,288,665, owned and asserted by AutoNavigare, LLC. The ‘665 patent relates to controlling applications on a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, using an in-vehicle control system. It is currently being asserted against Toyota.

View district court litigations by AutoNavigare. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, Alyssa Holtslander and Kelly Hughes, in this proceeding.

Adeia Technologies optimization patent prior art found

Unified is pleased to announce prior art has been found on U.S. Patent 9,208,155, owned by Adeia Technologies Inc, an NPE. The ‘155 patent discloses a content recommendation system focusing on enhancing user experience by observing and adapting to user interactions with various list presentations.

We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent. The ongoing contests are open to anyone, and include tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests. Visit PATROLL today to learn more about how to participate.

WINNING SUBMISSION

Uninvited Guests in the Smart Home: New NPE Patent Litigation

In keeping with the recent trend in smart home patent litigation, IoT Innovation rang in the new year, suing Snap One in Texas, accusing its Control4 platform for smart home integration. (2:25-cv-00022). Four months earlier, IoT Innovation filed a complaint (2:24-cv-00704) against Snap One in the same district for distributing Ecobee smart home thermostats, cameras, sensors, and plugs. 

In the consolidated litigation is also Resideo Technologies, spin-out of the Honeywell Home brand of smart-home products and acquirer of Snap One in June 2024. IoT Innovation expanded its campaign, filing lawsuits directly against Ecobee in February 2024 and their parent company, Generac, in September 2024.

Founded in 2011 by Daniel Mitry and Timothy Salmon, Empire IP is one of the more prolific NPEs, with over 660 cases attributed to the entity and its associated companies. Empire IP is also behind Cuozzo Speed Technologies. Cuozzo may ring a bell as the NPE behind the 2016 US Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to affirm the PTAB’s and Federal Circuit invalidation decisions and their use of the broadest reasonable claim construction rule. 

Unfortunately, the year 2025 promises more activity from Empire IP, as several tranches of patents have been assigned to Empire IP or Empire IP-associated entities like Fleet Connect. Fortunately, Empire IP’s success appears to be mixed:  out of 992 defendants, 500 have settled, 155 have seen their cases dismissed voluntarily with prejudice, and only 47 have proceeded to a Markman hearing. Of the defendants whose cases have gone to Markman, only 22 have settled. 

The majority of the 32 patents litigated by IoT Innovation originated over a decade ago from Nokia and AT&T and passed through various Intellectual Ventures entities such as Sulvanuss Capital, Spyder Navigations, and Amosmet Investments. In fact, Intellectual Ventures maintains a secured interest in the monetization proceeds from a number of the patents assigned to IoT Innovations. 

Empire IP, in general, and IoT Innovations specifically, continue to expand their litigation, becoming an uninvited guest in the smart home. With the smart home industry’s estimated 2025 revenue being $170B, as well as a CAGR of nearly 10% through 2029, little doubt remains as to whether NPEs will continue to assert in this space.