Streaming Media has published an article written by industry expert, John Simmons, who reports on the history of video codec Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) licensing and how it relates to video streaming services. Simmons argues that the video streaming’s enormous growth was the result of royalty free licensing of essential streaming technologies and a bargain struck to charge device makers the bulk of the royalties for SEP codec licensing while charging streaming video companies only a low nominal fee for subscription and other paid content. New uncertainty created by outfits like Avanci’s Video pool and others asserting against video streamers will only lead to less consumer choice, technologies, and services.
NexGen semiconductor controller patent challenged
On October 20, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,278,855 owned and asserted by NexGen Control Systems, LLC, an NPE. The '855 patent generally relates to control systems for electric motors. The patent is currently asserted against Infineon and NXP.
View district court litigations by NexGen. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, T.J. Murphy and Ashraf Fawzy.
Atlantic IP entity, Foras Technologies, parallel processor patent reexam granted
On October 17, 2023, less than seven weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding a substantial new question of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 7,624,302, owned and asserted by Foras Technologies, Ltd., an NPE and entity of Atlantic IP Services Limited. The ‘302 patent relates to lockstep processor technology where two processors are paired together, and the two processors perform exactly the same-operations and the results-are compared.(e.g., with an XOR gate). The patent has been asserted against Nissan and Toyota.
View district court litigations by Foras Technologies. Unified is represented by Greenberg Traurig and by in-house counsel, T.J. Murphy and Roshan Mansinghani, in these proceedings.
To view the reexamination request, visit Unified’s Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90019243
Phelan Group automotive patent reexam granted
On October 17, 2023, less than three months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding a substantial new question of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 10,259,470, owned and asserted by the Phelan Group, LLC, an NPE. The '470 patent generally relates to a vehicle control system for authenticating and monitoring a driver and their operation of a vehicle to improve safety. The patent is being asserted against Kia and Toyota.
View district court litigations by the Phelan Group. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, David Seastrunk and T.J. Murphy, in this proceeding.
To view the reexamination request, visit Unified’s Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90015287
Fractus LTE antenna patent challenged
On October 10, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 11,349,200, owned and asserted by Fractus S.A., an NPE. The ‘200 patent generally relates to a wireless device that includes an antenna system that has a level of complexity above a certain threshold. The patent has been asserted against ADT and Vivint.
View district court litigations by Fractus. Unified is represented by Chris Coulson at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, and by in-house counsel, T.J. Murphy and Alyssa Holtslander.