Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 2 of U.S. Patent 7,373,531, owned and asserted by Near Field Electronics LLC, an NPE and entity of Equitable IP Corporation. The '531 patent relates to a simple circuit and method for detecting whether an input signal is present, toggling, stopped, or at a particular frequency, and then using that result to reduce power consumption. It has been asserted against over 50 companies such as Lowes, Whole Foods, The Gap, AT&T Mobility, and others.
The contest will expire on September 5, 2026. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for the contest. PATROLL researchers are required to use Pearl to generate claim charts. Submitted invalidity charts must address every limitation of the challenged claim. This may require using more than one prior art reference. Each PATROLL researcher can generate up to 30 invalidity claim charts per month using Pearl. These charts can be downloaded then submitted to PATROLL.