Contemporary Display patent held unpatentable

On December 30, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. Contemporary Display LLC holding all challenged original claims of U.S. Patent 8,863,219 unpatentable. The PTAB also denied Contemporary Display’s motion to amend, finding proposed substitute claims 15 and 16 unpatentable.

The ‘219 patent is owned by Contemporary Display, LLC, an IP Valuation Partners entity and well-known NPE. The patent is directed to the well-known method of a television and its on-screen display menu, and had previously been asserted against various television manufacturers and service providers including LG and Cox.

Unified was represented by David Tennant and Ryuk Park at White & Case, and by in-house counsel, Ashraf Fawzy and Jessica L.A. Marks, in this proceeding. View Contemporary Display's district court litigation. To read the petition and view the entire case proceeding, see Unified's Portal.

Varatec patent held unpatentable

On December 29, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. Varatec, LLC holding all challenged original claims of U.S. Patent 7,792,256 unpatentable. The ‘256 patent, directed to a system and method for remotely monitoring, controlling, and managing equipment at one or more premises, had been asserted against Comcast and ADT, among others.

Unified is represented by in-house counsel, Jung Hahm, Ashraf Fawzy, and David Seastrunk. View Varatec’s district court litigation. To read the petition and view the entire case proceeding, see Unified's Portal.

Two GEVC EPO oppositions filed by Unified

On December 23, 2020, Unified filed an opposition proceeding against two patents owned by GE Video Compression LLC (GEVC), EP 3 471 416 and EP 3 487 179. These filings are a part of Unified’s ongoing efforts in its SEP Video Codec Zone. Both patents are related to U.S. patents that are designated essential to the Access Advance (previously HEVC Advance) patent pool.

Read the two separate notices below and follow the links to the complete filings found on the EPO’s website. Unified is represented by Leythem Wall at HGF Law LLP, and by in-house counsel, Jessica L.A. Marks and Ashraf Fawzy.

• EP 3 471 416 - https://register.epo.org/application?tab=doclist&number=EP18211098&lng=en

• EP 3 487 179 - https://register.epo.org/application?tab=doclist&number=EP18211094&lng=en

EP3471416_notice of Opposition by Jennifer M Gallagher on Scribd

EP3487179 Notice of Opposition by Jennifer M Gallagher on Scribd

Velos Media patent challenged

On December 29, 2020, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 9,743,086, owned by Velos Media as part of Unified's ongoing efforts in its SEP Video Codec Zone. The ‘086 patent and its corresponding extended patent family is the largest family known to be owned by Velos and represents approximately 5.3% of Velos’ known U.S. assets. Velos claims to have and seeks to license patents allegedly essential to the HEVC / H.265 standard.

Unified is represented by David Cavanaugh, Scott Bertulli, Brian Lambson, and Jonathan Knight all of WilmerHale, and in-house counsel, Ashraf Fawzy and Jessica L.A. Marks, in this proceeding. Visit Unified’s Public Portal for more information about its Video Codec landscape (OPAL) and standard submission repository (OPEN). Read the request below.

Request for Ex Parte Reexamination - US Patent No. 9,743,086 (Velos) by Jennifer M Gallagher on Scribd

First UK challenge filed by Unified against Velos Media

As part of Unified's ongoing efforts in its SEP Video Codec Zone, Unified filed its first UK challenge against EP 2 664 149, owned by Velos Media International Limited. The EP ‘149 patent is related to U.S. Patent 9,414,066, which Unified has also challenged in the U.S. (IPR2020-00352, instituted June 30, 2020). The EP ‘149 patent and its corresponding extended patent family is one of the largest families known to be owned by Velos. Velos claims to have and seeks to license patents allegedly essential to the HEVC / H.265 standard. EP’149 is directed to video decoding techniques and was originally assigned to Ericsson before being transferred to Velos.

Read the entire filing below. Unified is represented by Dr. Simon Q. Lud (European Patent Attorney) and Christopher Holtby (UK and European Patent Attorney) at Maiwald Intellectual Property, and by in-house counsel, Jessica L.A. Marks and Roshan Mansinghani.

EP 2 664 149 B1 UK petition by Jennifer M Gallagher on Scribd