On Friday, December 8, 2023, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued another final written decision holding that Unified Patents was the sole real party-in-interest (RPI). Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. v. MemoryWeb, LLC, IPR2022-00222, Exhibit 2121 (public version, filed December 22, 2023). The decision is consistent with past decisions over the last decade holding that Unified acts independently, without influence from its members in its challenges against non-practicing entities.
Reversing a now-vacated ruling in an earlier case, the Board observed that Unified’s business was “designed to comply with RPI rules and to maintain its independence from its membership” and that its business model is “focused on deterrence rather than settlement of cases involving NPEs.” Ex. 2121, 45. The Board confirmed that Unified’s arms’-length relationship with its members—who do not communicate or coordinate about its filings or give any input to Unified regarding its decision to file petitions—supported that “no relationship between Petitioner and Unified that would give rise to the implication that Petitioner is a RPI in the Unified proceeding.” Id., 51. Further, they held that a member pays undesignated subscription fees did not show that the member directly funded Unified’s filing activities. Id., 52.
This decision, which considered a wealth of evidence, including membership agreements, press releases, reports, and written and deposition testimony, confirms that unlike RPX in AIT, Unified acts independently of its members to serve its ongoing mission of deterring assertions of broad, invalid patents.
