$4,000 Cash Prize for Prior Art on Universal Cipher Patent

On January 17, 2019, Unified added a new PATROLL contest with a $4,000 cash prize for prior art submissions for US 7,721,222. The '222 patent generally relates to a non-English text generation system by which text can be generated in any language without a keyboard. The ‘222 patent is owned by Universal Cipher, LLC (an NPE) and has been widely asserted in district court. To protect innovation and deter future frivolous assertions, Unified is offering a $4,000 cash prize for the best prior art on this patent.

The contest will expire on February 17, 2020. Please visit PATROLL for more information or to submit an entry for this contest.

Barkan Wireless patent claims held unpatentable by PTAB

On January 8, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a public version of its final written decision in Unified Patents Inc. v. Barkan Wireless IP Holdings, L.P., holding as unpatentable 15 of 21 challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,014,284 owned by and asserted by Barkan Wireless IP Holdings, an NPE. The '284 patent, directed to an “add-on base station” in a cellular network, has been asserted in district court litigation against Verizon and Samsung. 

The Board’s decision rejected Patent Owner's argument that Unified’s members should have been named as RPIs in this proceeding, finding that “[a]ll entities have an interest in eliminating or mitigating the risks of [] lawsuits pending against them.” This is the latest in a series of decisions that have consistently found Unified to be the sole RPI.

Unified was represented by Haynes and Boone in this matter. View Barkan Wireless' district court litigation here. To read the decision and view the entire case proceeding, see our PTAB Portal.

Contemporary Display patent determined to be likely invalid

On January 7, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) instituted trial on all challenged claims in an IPR filed by Unified against US Patent 8,863,219, owned by Contemporary Display, LLC, an IP Valuation Partners entity and well-known NPE. The ‘219 patent, directed to the well-known method of a television and its on-screen display menu, had previously been asserted against various television manufacturers and service providers including LG, Verizon, and Cox.

Unified is represented by David Tennant at White & Case in this proceeding. View Contemporary Display's district court litigation. To read the petition and view the entire case proceeding, see Unified's Portal.

Another Velos Media patent challenged as likely unpatentable

On January 2, 2020, Unified filed a petition (with WilmerHale serving as lead counsel) for inter partes review (IPR) against U.S. Patent 9,414,066, owned by Velos Media, LLC (Velos), as part of Unified's ongoing efforts in its SEP Video Codec Zone.

The ‘066 patent and its corresponding extended patent family is one of the largest families known to be owned by Velos, representing nearly 5% of Velos’ total U.S. patent grants. Including this petition, Unified has now challenged patents representing over 42% of Velos’ total known U.S. assets.

Velos claims to have and seeks to license patents allegedly essential to the HEVC / H.265 standard. The ’066 patent is directed to video decoding techniques and was originally assigned to Ericsson before being transferred to Velos in 2018.  After conducting an independent analysis, Unified has determined that the ‘066 patent is likely unpatentable.

Visit Unified’s Public Portal for more information about its Video Codec landscape (OPAL) and standard submission repository (OPEN). To read the petition and review the case record, view IPR2020-00352 on the Portal.

Unified seeks Director/VP of Sales & Business Development

Unified is a private, subscription-based company that is disrupting the patent market. The team is looking for a passionate and self-starting individual, preferably with a law degree, to join the company in a senior role to continue our growth and help enter new markets.

The professional will help grow Unified's business and will assist in the company’s strategic direction, help drive membership activities related to a range of technology areas, and assist with dealing with NPEs. They will identify potential markets, technologies, partners, and members, and lead in achieving agreements with them. The successful candidate will assist in developing new business models for revenue generation using Unified's unique value proposition.

The candidate should have a thorough knowledge of different technologies and IP departments at those companies, and have an awareness of general trends which affect these industries. They should already have worked, interacted, and/or sold to IP Departments of major high-tech corporations.

The position requires the individual to be passionate about patent law and Intellectual Property, have a high degree of independence, and is goal-oriented. Aggressive compensation and flexible work environment is included. For more details about the position and instructions on how to apply, view the full job listing.