Patent Risk Digest
November 2018
Understanding Patent Risk and Insurance
It might seem that only high-tech giants are vulnerable to patent infringement lawsuits, but any company that simply uses patented technology in its day-to-day business operations is at risk of being sued. RPX has teamed up with Property Casualty 360 on two recently published white papers to help you better understand patent risk and insurance as a possible solution.
Read more »In these white papers, you’ll learn more about patent risk, the kinds of companies most impacted by it, as well as about the advancements in patent litigation insurance in recent years. You’ll also see how patent litigation insurance works through a variety of case studies.
To access the white papers, visit our newsroom.
With New Ruling, Higher Damages Possible for Patent Suits
In June 2018, the US Supreme Court held in WesternGeco v. ION Geophysical ruling that patent plaintiffs may recover lost profits damages when an infringer has made certain components in the US for an invention that gets assembled abroad. While the ruling was limited to this specific kind of infringement, the decision’s reasoning has been viewed as applicable to other types of infringement involving conduct outside of the United States.
Read more »In October, Delaware Chief Judge Leonard Stark took such a position in Power Integrations v. Fairchild Semiconductor, holding that worldwide damages are available for direct patent infringement due to WesternGeco. The ruling, if upheld, could result in higher damages for a wide variety of patent suits, making the prospect of litigation a much costlier one.
IP Edge Smart Home Campaign Picks Up Steam
In late October, an affiliate of IP EdgeLLC added four more defendants to its smart home campaign. The entity, Karamelion LLC, is now accusing nine companies across a variety of sectors for infringing on two patents through their manufacturing and distributing of a variety of connected appliances. The two patents generally relate to controlling a “distribute appliance system”. The complaints particularly identify devices using the Z-Wave wireless communications protocol.
Read more »The patents-in-suit issued in August 2001 and March 2005, respectively, with estimated priority date in January 1999.
IP Edge was formed in Texas in July 2015, and Karamelion was formed in December 2016, also in Texas. IP Edge has launched roughly 60 litigation campaigns both before and after its formation. Before the US Supreme Court handed down its May 2017 TC Heartland decision on proper venue in patent cases, IP Edge had established a pattern of forming litigating affiliates in Texas, identifying longtime residents of Texas as their managers, and filing waves of litigation in the Eastern District of Texas. Since May, affiliates of the monetization firm have filed suits in other districts, as Karamelion in part has done here. This campaign is now proceeding in the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas and the District of Delaware.
Contact Us
Contact patentriskdigest@rpxcorp.com to request more detailed information on patent litigation risk in your sector, as it applies to your particular business or clients. Click here for information on RPX Patent Litigation Insurance.