Marshall Division
Nov. 19
Plaintiff VoxPath RS is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Austin. It claims to be the owner by assignment of U.S. Patent No. 5,450,378 issued Sept. 12, 1995, for Holographic Elements for an Optical Recording Sytem.
According to the complaint, defendants are infringing the '378 Patent by making, using or selling certain apparatuses for controlling at least one beam of light in an optical data storage system, such as optical disc storage and/or playback systems having a light source and a multi-function volume holographic optical element in the path of light from the light source that performs a plurality of optical functions.
The defendants are Denon Electronics, D&M Holdings, Best Buy, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics, Toshiba and Onkyo.
VoxPath is seeking compensatory damages no less than a reasonable royalty, a permanent injunction enjoining defendants from infringing activities, interest, attorneys' fees and all other relief to which it may be entitled. The plaintiff is also demanding a trial by jury.
Andrew W. Spangler of Spangler Law PC in Marshall and Marc A. Fenster of Russ, August & Kabat in Los Angeles, Calif., are representing the plaintiff.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge T. John Ward and referred to Magistrate Judge Charles Everingham for pretrial proceedings.
Case No. 2:09-cv-364-TJW-CE
Nov. 20
Plaintiff DownUnder Wireless is a Texas limited liability company with its principal place of business in Tyler.
The plaintiff is the owner by assignment of U.S. Patent No. 6,741,215 issued May 25, 2004, for an Inverted Safety Antenna for Personal Communications Devices.
According to the complaint, the '215 Patent is directed to a versatile system for designing or providing wireless communication devices that significantly reduce the intensity of electromagnetic radiation that a user is exposed to while using such a device.
"In the past several years concerns over the potential health threats, especially to children, have continued to escalate," the suit states.
"In recent months, a great deal of attention has been focused on a growing number of studies that show potentially detrimental effects to users from long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation from wireless communication devices and indicate a link between cell phone usage and cancer.
"One of the most common measurements of electromagnetic radiation from wireless communication devices is referred to as specific absorption rate (SAR), which is usually denoted in units of watts per kilogram (W/kg).
"Interestingly enough, publicly available SAR data seems to indicate that wireless communication devices that utilize the teachings of the '215 Patent are capable of operating at very low SAR levels without sacrificing form or function."
DownUnder allege 20 companies are infringing the '215 Patent by using and selling wireless communication devices comprising a housing, a microphone, a speaker earpiece, a user interface mounted in an upright orientation on the device and a transmitting antenna.
"The infringing instrumentalities are provided such that during use, the communication device positions the transmitting antenna away from the user's ear because of the distance between the speaker earpiece and said transmitting antenna," the complaint states.
The Defendants are Samsung, Sprint, Target, T-Mobile, Tracfone, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, Wal-mart, Amazon.com, AT&T, Best Buy, Boost, Buy.com, CompUSA, Cricket, Dell, Newegg, Overstock.com, RadioShack and Cal-Comp Electronics.
The plaintiff is seeking a permanent injunction enjoining defendants from infringement, compensatory and enhanced damages, interest, attorneys' fees and other relief to which it may be entitled. DownUnder is also demanding a trial by jury.
Papool Chaudhari and Spencer Browne, of Reyes Bartolomei Browne in Dallas are representing the plaintiff.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge David Folsom.
Case No. 2:09-cv-365-DF