Automotive

Phelan Group automotive patent challenged

On August 31, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,259,470, owned and asserted by the Phelan Group, LLC, an NPE. The '470 patent generally relates to a vehicle control system for authenticating and monitoring a driver and their operation of a vehicle to improve safety. The patent is being asserted against Kia and Toyota.

View district court litigations by the Phelan Group. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, David Seastrunk and T.J. Murphy, in this proceeding.

Vision Works IP automotive patent challenged

On July 14, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,437,935, owned and asserted by Vision Works IP Corp., an NPE. The ’935 patent generally relates to a vehicle monitoring system for turning off an idling engine. The ’935 patent is currently being asserted against Nissan and was previously asserted against Mercedes-Benz USA.

View district court litigations by Vision Works IP. Unified is represented by Raghav Bajaj and David McCombs of Hayes Boone, and by in-house counsel, Kelly Hughes and Ashraf Fawzy.

To view the reexamination request, visit Unified’s Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90015258

Mel NavIP automobile speech recognition patent likely invalid

On May 23, 2023, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) instituted trial on all challenged claims in an IPR filed by Unified against U.S. Patent 8,060,368, owned and asserted by Mel NavIP, LLC. The '368 patent is generally directed to navigation and speech recognition for a vehicle. The patent had been asserted against Toyota and is currently asserted against GM and Hyundai.

View district court litigations by Mel NavIP. To read the petition and view the case record, see Unified’s Portal. Unified was represented by Jessica Kaiser, Ali R. Sharifahmadian, and Lindsey Staubach of Arnold & Porter, and by in-house counsel, Ashraf Fawzy, Roshan Mansinghani, and David Seastrunk, in this proceeding.

Another MicroPairing patent challenged

On January 4, 2022, Unified filed a petition for inter partes review (IPR) against U.S. Patent 7,178,049, owned by MicroParing Technologies LLC, an NPE. The '049 patent is generally directed to managing applications in a multi-processor system in a vehicle and was asserted against several car companies in 2021, including Mazda, Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, GM, Nissan, Mitsubishi, FCA, and Volvo.

View district court litigations by MicroPairing. To read the petition and view the case record, see Unified’s Portal. Unified is represented by Raghav Bajaj from Haynes and Boone and by in-house counsel, Alyssa Holtslander and Ashraf Fawzy.

MicroPairing patent challenged

On October 1, 2021, Unified filed a petition for inter partes review (IPR) against U.S. Patent 8,953,816, owned by MicroParing Technologies LLC, an NPE. The '816 patent is currently being asserted against Toyota and GM and is directed to connecting wireless audio devices to in-vehicle audio systems.

 View district court litigations by MicroPairing. To read the petition and view the case record, see Unified’s Portal. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, Alyssa Holtslander and Ashraf Fawzy.