$2,000 for Pointwise Ventures location tracking patent prior art

Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 8,471,812, owned by Pointwise Ventures LLC, an NPE. The ‘812 patent is directed to a pointing device and more particularly to a pointing device which can allow a user to point to a spot and determine that spot's absolute location, either on a TV screen, a computer screen, or in the real world. The patent has been asserted against Microsoft, Alibaba Group, Blippar, Farfetch UK, IKEA, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., Glority Global, Samsung, and Syte Visual Conception.

The contest will expire on May 25, 2024. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for this contest.

$2,000 awarded for WristDocs biotelemetry patent prior art

Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners, Dinesh Swami and Ekta Aswal, who split a $2,000 award for their prior art submissions on U.S. Patent 9,392,970, owned by WristDocs LLC, an NPE. The ‘970 patent provides a portable, disposable biotelemetry system, including one or more sensors, capable of being mounted on one or more extremities, particularly the wrist. The invention provides a biotelemetry system for disposition on the wrist. The device of the invention may be portable, untethered and in some instances, disposable. The features of the wrist biotelemetry system make it effective in stable, chronic or emergency medical settings. The patent has been asserted against Google, Garmin, ZEPP Health, and Apple.

We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent. The ongoing contests are open to anyone, and include tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests. Visit PATROLL today to learn more about how to participate.

WINNING SUBMISSION

• US 8121673

• US 7892178

$2,000 for Emerald Lake Hills operational management patent prior art

Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claims 1 and 2 of U.S. Patent 11,636,413, owned by Emerald Lake Hills, LLC, an NPE. The ‘413 patent relates to the virtual operational management of discrete attributes between multiple commercial goods or service transacting entities for the purpose of significantly enhancing business operating performance. The patent has been asserted against Amazon.

The contest will expire on May 18, 2024. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for this contest.

Unified Files Amicus in Roku Fed.Cir. appeal from the ITC, Supporting Stronger Domestic Industry Requirement

On March 18, 2024, Unified filed an amicus brief in support of Roku's petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Roku v. ITC on the issue of relaxed enforcement of the economic domestic industry requirement in ITC cases. In the brief, Unified explores the trends of NPE activity at the ITC, where exclusion orders can and have been used to extract larger settlements than would be available in district courts due to this relaxed enforcement of domestic industry. Unified accordingly requests the Court clarify how the domestic industry requirement is analyzed, and argues it should be done in a manner consistent with the ITC's purpose of protecting unfair trade, and consistent with statutory language.

Unified Patents is represented by in-house counsel, David Seastrunk, Michelle Aspen, and Jonathan Stroud. Download the amicus brief below.

VDPP stitched image patent challenged

On March 18, 2024, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 9,426,452, owned and asserted by VDPP LLC, an NPE. The '452 patent is generally directed to image processing to form a combined image from multiple video streams. It has been asserted over 20 times with active cases against Mazda, Motorola Mobility, Mercedes-Benz, NEC, HP Inc., Razer, Honda, Ricoh, GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Ford.

View district court litigations by VDPP. Unified is represented by O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and by in-house counsel, T.J. Murphy and Roshan Mansinghani, in this proceeding.