Last Week in Patents December 21, 2020
The week ending December 18, 2020 there were 81 new patent lawsuits filed in the United States. The Western District of Texas continues to be the venue of choice for plaintiffs due to the access of a speedy docket under Judge Albright. Below are the new cases filed involving publicly traded companies filed last week:
MERCK SHARP & DOHME ($MRK) et al v. TEVA PHARMACEUTICALS USA (TEVA) filed a new case in New Jersey over Bridion. Merck globally has sold almost $850M worth of Bridion globally so far in 2020 and sold $1.1B globally in 2019. This new case will likely be consolidated into docket 2:20-cv-02576 with the rest of the defendants filed on March 10, 2020. Merck is asserting U.S. Patent No. RE44,733. This will be a docket and trial to watch.
Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc. ($PTON) in the Eastern District of Texas on December 14, 2020. Two patents asserted titled “PROGRAMMED EXERCISE BICYCLE WITH COMPUTER AIDED GUIDANCE”.
Bandspeed, LLC v. Intel Corporation ($INTC) was filed in the Eastern District of Texas on December 15, 2020. 10 patents are being asserted related to Bluetooth technology.
BAUSCH HEALTH IRELAND LIMITED / Salix ($BHC) v. LUPIN LTD. et al filed in New Jersey on December 16, 2020. Two patents are being asserted that cover Plenvu.
BE Labs, Inc. v. Fortinet, Inc. ($FTNT) filed in the Eastern District of Texas on December 16, 2020. Two patents are being asserted titled “Wireless multimedia system,”.
Daedalus Blue, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation ($MSFT) was filed on December 16, 2020 in the Western District of Texas. Five patents are being asserted. The portfolio was purchased from IBM back in late 2019. The team of BUNSOW DE MORY LLP is representing Daedalus Blue.
Symmetrix Video Systems LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc. ($CSCO) was filed on December 16, 2020 in the Western District of Texas. One patent is being asserted.
Koninklijke Philips N.V ($PHG) continues to stay aggressive filing new cases versus Thales, Telit Wireless and Quectel in Delaware on December 17, 2020. An ITC case was also filed. The patents cover wireless technologies and are likely SEPs.
Glu Mobile Inc. ($GLUU) v. Reworks Oy was filed on December 17, 2020 in the Western District of Texas. One patent is being asserted. The official press release from Glu Mobile can be found here.
New Inter Partes Reviews Filed
Progenity ($PROG) v Natera Inc (NTRA) patent 9,228,234
Progenity ($PROG) v Natera Inc ($NTRA) patent 10,522,242
Peloton ($PTON) v ICON Health & Fitness, Inc patent 7,166,062
Lupin v Amgen ($AMGN) patent 9,856,287
Apple ($AAPL) v Koss ($KOSS) patent 10,506,325
Cisco Systems ($CSCO) v Oyster Optics patent 6,665,500
Netflix ($NFLX) v Avago Technologies ($AVGO) patent 8,270,992
Apple ($AAPL) v Maxell Ltd patent 7,203,517
Roku Inc ($ROKU) v UNIVERSAL ELECTRONICS, INC patents 10,593,196, 10,600,317, 7,969,514,
Cisco Systems ($CSCO) v CAPELLA PHOTONICS, INC patents RE47,906 & RE47,905
Interesting non publicly traded new litigation filed added to my watchlist:
StratosAudio v Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Volvo filed on December 11, 2020 in the Western District of Texas. Four of the cases have seven patents being asserted with a fifth case having eight patents asserted. The patents related to advertising and broadcasting. StratosAudio is represented by the team from White & Case LLP.
NorthStar Systems LLC v ZTE, TCT, OnePlus, & Kyocera complaints were filed on December 15, 2020 in the Eastern District of Texas. The patents appear to be originally from Intellectual Ventures and assigned to Alpha Alpha Intellectual Partners LLC. The Plaintiff is represented by a strong legal team in the newly created Fabricant LLP.
The US Patent office issued 6,410 new patents on Tuesday morning. There were 6,866 new applications published at the US Patent office on Thursday morning. I am working on getting a full sortable patent list converted to excel for the new patents and publications to start publishing data.
Press Releases for the week
InterDigital Issues Guidance for Fourth Quarter 2020 ($IDCC)
Investment Thought
Over the last few years I have been very focused on the downside cases when evaluating investments. I am fascinated by the various short seller reports. It has drifted into other areas of my life which was pointed out to me when my fiancé and I were house shopping. I was only commenting on the parts of the house that needed work or needed to be redone. She thought I hated the house based on my comments. I actually really liked it and thought it had a ton of potential. We put an offer on the house but were outbid by a few other buyers (the housing market is totally insane at the moment). One of my 2021 goals is to better understand the bull thesis. I have been so focused on checking my blind spots that it has led to missing some easy trading/investing layups right in front of me.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.