Table 1a: NPEs filed over 600 new cases in the eRetail zone in 2015. NPE litigation in the eRetail zone has increased dramatically over the last several years. From January 1, 2012 to September 30, 2015, Unified studied patent infringement actions against the largest in-store and online retailers with particular emphasis on those cases filed by known or suspected NPEs. The study demonstrated that…

On October 30, 2015, Unified Patents (“Unified”) petitioned for inter partes review (IPR) of U.S. Patent 8,155,342, owned and asserted by Blitzsafe Texas LLC (“Blitzsafe”). On July 16, 2015 Blitzsafe filed five cases against major automotive companies in the Eastern District of Texas, asserting two similar, closely related patents. In those cases, Blitzsafe claims its…

Table 1a: NPE litigation in the Imaging sector has been consistently high since 2012 Operating companies in the digital imaging sector have been a consistent target of NPE litigation over the last several years. From January 1, 2012 to September 30, 2015, Unified studied patent infringement actions against the largest OEMs and suppliers of imaging systems with…

Overall Trend Figure 1: Patent disputes in the District Court and PTAB for Q1-Q3 in 2015 have increased 9.8% as compared to Q1-Q3 2014.   Figure 2: Patent disputes have steadily grown since 2012. *ITC filings since 2012 comprise only a nominal amount of patent disputes and are therefore not included here.   Figure 3: Patent Disputes by Sector…

On Thursday, October 15, 2015, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) instituted another petition filed by Unified Patents Inc. against a patent owned by iMTX Strategic, LLC (iMTX) on two grounds on all 23 challenged claims. Unified filed the petition to protect content delivery technologies from questionable NPE assertions. iMTX claims its patent covers...