Patent Filings Roundup: VLSI Judgment Patents Challenged; Dozens of NPE-Semiconductor Patents Instituted; Nanotechnology Solar Panel Litigation Kicks Off

It seems non-practicing entity (NPE) semiconductor/chip litigation has really come to dominate both the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the district courts’ dockets this past year. Another average week at the PTAB saw 26 patent filings (five post grant reviews [PGRs] and 21 inter partes reviews [IPRs]), and the district courts saw another heavy week, with 89 new complaints. A slew of IPR challenges on chip patents owned and asserted by Arbor Global Strategies, LLC [Arbor Company, LLP] were instituted; Google, Samsung and LG were denied institution on IPR challenges for five litigation-related patents under Fintiv and a Waco-division Western District of Texas trial date; a slew of IPRs against NPE Bell Semiconductor, LLC [owned by Hilco d/b/a Hilco Global] were instituted; Qualcomm earned a few more institutions against the Vector Capital Corp.-NPE Monterey Research; and Huawei earned institutions against some of the dozen or so patents Craig Etchegoyen’s WSOU entities asserted against them before Judge Albright in the Waco division of the Western District of Texas. In district court, Raymond Anthony Joao has another new entity suing smallish companies, this time medical records companies, and there was another flurry of suits from Cedar Lane and others.

 VLSI Billion Dollar Judgment Patents Challenged—the two patents that led to a $2.18 billion judgment by litigation-funded NPE VLSI (run by Fortress IP) have been challenged in IPR by unknown entity OpenSky Industries, LLC. The patents were previously challenged on similar grounds in IPR by defendant Intel and denied under the Board’s Fintiv discretionary denial line; the new entity pleads no connection to Intel and notes that this time around, no Fintiv considerations apply.

 New NPE Files Against Dozens of Foreign Solar Panel Companies—Advanced Silicon Group Technologies, LLC, a holding company of Advanced Silicon Group — not to be confused with older NPE Advanced Silicon Technologies, LLC — has sued dozens in three new suits on patents covering nanostructured silicone chip sensors, generally related to photovoltaic solar panels. The suits span 14 defendants and at least six patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 8,450,599, 8,852,981, 9,601,640, 9,768,331, 10,269,995, and 10,692,971.

PTAB (26)

District Court (86)

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