Patent Filings Roundup: Fintiv Denial in Light of NPE Suit Against Healthcare Co.; More Institutions in Troubled, Funded ParkerVision Campaign; Universal Studios Sued by German Ride Company

Patent filings were average this week, with 21 Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) petitions and 77 district court patent complaints filed (and 67 terminated). In the district courts, Joao, Cedar Lane, and DynaIP campaigns added a fair number of defendants, some interesting competitor-competitor cases cropped up, and Wepay Global Payments LLC continued its single-design-patent campaign, adding Wells Fargo. This week also saw a few discretionary denials, as detailed below.

Joao Entity Benefits from Albright Trial Date, Fintiv Denial: One of frequent NPE Raymond Anthony Joao’s entities, Decapolis LLC—which has been targeting small, local Texas healthcare companies—earned a discretionary denial from the PTAB over a February 28, 2023, scheduled trial date in Waco (there is also a district court suit with a trial date that is further out). The companies that joined to file—eClinicalWorks, LLC, Medical Software Solutions, Inc., and NextGen Healthcare, Inc.—were three of the 21 defendant companies Joao has sued thus far, including Texas pediatrics groups, university healthcare providers, and county hospitals. This was the only petition on either of the two patents filed. The patent is U.S. 7,464,040.

Failing, Funded ParkerVision Campaign Sees Another PTAB Institution: In a rare peek behind the curtain, Angela Morris of IAM recently reported on the funding details of the ParkerVision campaign, and some allegations that the entity owes counsel law firm Sterne Kessler upward of $700,000. They can add to their woes another IPR instituted against one of the patents asserted there, this one challenged by LG, TCL and Hisense.

German Animatronics/Ride Company Sues Universal Over Jimmy Fallon Ride: Animatronics machinery provider Dynamic Motion Group Gmbh sued Universal Studios on three patents related to rides with three dimensions of freedom of motion, citing as an example their contract negotiations and work on Universal’s “Race through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon” ride. The patents are U.S. 9259657, 9536446, 10283008.

PTAB – (21)

District Court – (77)