Introducing Unified Consulting

Many companies need customized solutions to help with patent portfolio analysis, landscaping, infringement, Standard Essential Patent (SEP) issues, and expert testimony. Introducing Unified Consulting (UC), a sister company to Unified Patents, which can meet the needs of companies through IP consulting and data services and support. UC provides innovative solutions to clients which have traditionally been unavailable or extremely expensive.

UC will be led by Kevin Jakel and Craig Thompson, both of which bring decades of IP expertise to the new company. Craig will be leading UC’s consulting practice and data service offerings. Previously, he had been head of IP at Alcatel Lucent and head of IP Licensing for Americas for Nokia. Most recently, he was leading an international IP consulting firm called TNT IP.

Unified Consulting will be able to leverage existing software tools and analytics to provide capabilities previously only available to the largest companies,” says Thompson. “I am excited to be part of an entity dedicated to providing the best quality answers to client’s questions and help improve the patent market in general.”

A major focus of UC will be to help companies better navigate SEP issues through offering data services and support. As part of that, UC recently published a brief analysis of FRAND offers in TCL v. Ericsson that demonstrated the error of using comparative licenses there, and demonstrating how not everyone fairly paid the same rate for the same SEP license.

“We are excited to launch Unified Consulting to improve the patent market and help companies make more informed decisions,” said Kevin Jakel, member of UC’s board of directors. “We believe that our tools and experience can deliver better outcomes for our clients in a number of important IP areas.”

$2,000 Cash Prize for Prior Art on Kioba Processing Patent

On March 6, 2020, Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest with a $2,000 cash prize for prior art submissions for USRE45006. The '006 patent generally relates to "marketing and more particularly to a method and system for differentiated customer promotion." The patent is owned by Kioba Processing, LLC, an NPE. To protect innovation and deter future frivolous assertions, Unified is offering a $2,000 cash prize for the best prior art on this patent.

The contest will expire on April 15, 2020. Please visit PATROLL for more information or to submit an entry for this contest.

Universal Cipher (formerly Cumberland Systems) settles with Unified Patents

On March 5, 2020, a joint motion to terminate pursuant to settlement was filed in IPR2019-00498 by Unified Patents and Universal Cipher, LLC (f/k/a Cumberland Systems), an NPE. The ’647 patent, directed to encrypting of a password or other secret information, has been asserted in twenty-four district court cases, all of which have been terminated.    

Unified was represented by Ropes & Gray and in-house counsel Jung Hahm and Roshan Mansinghani in this proceeding. View district court litigation for the ’647 patent. To read the petition and view the entire case proceeding, see Unified’s Portal

Unified seeks Director of Legal Operations

Unified is a private, subscription-based company that is disrupting the patent market. The team is searching for an ambitious individual, who is familiar in legal services and/or patent law, to fill a non-traditional role.

The Director of Legal Operations will manage many hats since tasks will combine legal, data, and marketing responsibilities. This role will assist in crafting outbound communication and help the software development team to create and test new tools to provide through Unified's Portal. Other tasks include coordinating legal activities, create new member services, and dabble in website development.

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.

Terrestrial Comms patent added to PATROLL

On March 3, 2020, Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest with a $2,000 cash prize for prior art submissions for US 7,411,552. The '552 patent generally relates to a "variety of techniques to achieve the desired impedance matching so that there are more opportunities available to a designer, such as choice of geometry, size, or the like, to achieve the desired operating frequency without compromising the performance of the wireless communication device" (see the background of the invention in the patent specification). The patent is owned by Terrestrial Comms, LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm IPValuation Partners, LLC. Terrestrial Comms has asserted this patent in US district court against Best Buy, Perixx Computer, Acco Brands, and NEC. To protect innovation and deter future frivolous assertions, Unified is offering a $2,000 cash prize for the best prior art on this patent.

The contest will expire on June 15, 2020. Please visit PATROLL for more information or to submit an entry for this contest.