In a recent op-ed in IAM, Unified’s General Counsel, Jonathan Stroud, explains the issues with the USPTO’s reform proposal, including how it singles out Unified and proposes restrictions that contradict the AIA and that have been rejected in subsequent failed legislative proposals. In the link below, Mr. Stroud argues that if the agency seeks to single out Unified Patents and bar it from filing IPRs, it must also scrutinize the lack of transparency and conduct of prolific NPEs.
The Adoption and Benefits of Royalty-Free Licensing
As part of the efforts of Unified Edge, John Jarosz and his team of economists at the Analysis Group have published a paper on the benefits of royalty-free licensing. Read the abstract below and follow the link to download the paper.
Abstract
Much licensing of patented technology is royalty-bearing, allowing innovators to be compensated for their investments in researching, developing, and then in commercializing the resulting products.
However, over the last couple of decades, standards-based technologies have expanded, in part, due to the increased need for device interoperability, communication, and replacement. Though some of the licensing of patents covering such technologies bears royalties, royalty-free licensing of standards-based technology has grown increasingly common. Indeed, perhaps only a small percentage of today’s widely adopted standards-based technologies are subject to royalty payments. Furthermore, there has been a proliferation of non-standards-based patented technologies and protocols that companies offer on a royalty-free basis (e.g., Adobe PDF and Thunderbolt, discussed further below).
The advantages of royalty-free licensing of technology are obvious for competition broadly and can be numerous for both consumers and companies, specifically, those who benefit from, inter alia, reduced costs and lowered barriers to market entry. But royalty-free licensing can be appealing to innovators as well, as it can result in faster adoption, increased usage, and further innovations that incorporate the standardized technologies. Using some well-known examples, this paper examines the widespread adoption of, motivations behind, and benefits associated with royalty-free licensing in standards-based settings, and even, in some cases, outside of a formal standard-setting organization (“SSO”). Though royalty-free licensing has many perceived and actual advantages, it is not the optimal route for all technology licensing. It can be and is, of course, optimal in many settings.
Better Browsing web browser patent challenged in reexam
On May 16, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,838,736, owned and asserted by Better Browsing LLC. The '736 patent relates generally to a zoom feature for an internet browser and has been asserted against Opera Norway AS.
View district court litigations by Better Browsing. Unified is represented by Chris Coulson at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and by in-house counsel, David Seastrunk and Roshan Mansinghani.
DynaIP entity WirelessWerx IP location tracking patent challenged in reexam
On May 19, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 7,317,927 owned by WirelessWerx IP LLC, an NPE and Dynamic IP Deals LLC entity. The '927 patent relates to location tracking and has been asserted against Apple, Uber, and Lyft.
View district court litigations by WirelessWerx. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, Ellyar Barazesh and David Seastrunk.
To view the reexamination request, visit Unified’s Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90015235
Entangled Media file sharing patent reexam granted
On May 16, 2023, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,484,260, owned by Entangled Media LLC. The ‘260 patent relates to operating on files located on multiple devices using a singular file system and is being asserted against Dropbox.
View district court litigations by Entangled Media. Unified is represented by Drew Sommer and Wen Xue from Greenberg Traurig and by in-house counsel, Alyssa Holtslander and T.J. Murphy.
To view any documents for the reexamination proceedings on Unified's Portal, go to https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90015221.