Recent patent infringement cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas

MARSHALL DIVISION

May 22 

• Syneron Medical Ltd. v Viora Ltd. et al Case No. 2:14-cv-00639

Plaintiff Syneron is an Israeli corporation.

The defendants named in the suit are Viora Ltd., Viora Inc. and Copper Leaf Day Spa & Salon.

According to the suit, U.S. Patent No. 6,662,054 issued Dec. 9, 2003, for a Method and System for Treating Skin, with named inventors Michael Kreindel and Amir Waldman. The ‘054 Patent is assigned to Syneron Medical. A Reexamination Certificate was issued on Aug. 27, 2013.

Syneron and the Viora defendants are competitors in the field of aesthetic medical devices, for example Syneron’s Velashape products compete with defendants’ Reaction products.

As a result of Defendants’ infringing conduct, Syneron has suffered, and will continue to suffer, irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law, the suit states.

The plaintiff alleges that a Vela project manager and engineers left Syneron and began working for Viora defendants to incorporate Syneron’s multi-frequency feature into the Viora Reaction product.

Syneron is seeking a permanent injunction, compensatory damages, treble damages, attorneys’ fees, interest and costs. A jury trial is requested.

Trey Yarbrough of Yarbrough Wilcox Gunter PLLC in Tyler and Gerson Panitch, Christopher Blackford and Jennifer Robinson of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP in Washington, D.C., are representing the plaintiff.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap.

 

• BioControl LLC v Microsoft Corp. Case No. 2:14-cv-00640

Plaintiff BioControl is a Texas limited liability company with a place of business in Houston.

Microsoft is accused of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 5,647,834 issued July 15, 1997, for a Speech-Based Biofeedback Method and System.

According to the suit, the ‘834 Patent is for a system for effecting biofeedback regulation of at least one physiological variable characteristic of a subject’s emotional state. The system is comprised of a microphone for converting the subject’s speech into an electrical signal, a processor connected to the microphone to derive at least one speech parameter characteristic of the subject’s emotional state and producing an indication signal and at least one sensor for detecting non-speech parameter characteristics of the subject’s emotional state.

The allegedly infringing products include the Xbox One with Kinect 2 game console and Kinect Sports Rivals.

BioControl is seeking compensatory damages, costs, expenses, interest, attorneys’ fees and treble damages if the infringement is found to be willful. A jury trial is requested.

William P. Ramey III of Houston is representing BioControl.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap and referred to Magistrate Jude Roy Payne for pretrial proceedings.

 

May 26

• IOdapt LLC v Buffalo Americas Inc. Case No. 2:14-cv-00644

Plaintiff IOdapt is a Texas limited liability company with its principal place of business in Allen.

The defendant is accused of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 8,402,109 issued May 19, 2013, for a Wireless Router Remote Firmware Upgrade.

Defendant Buffalo’s allegedly infringing product includes its AirStation wireless router and access points.

IOdapt is seeking a permanent injunction, damages, costs, expenses, interest, attorneys’ fees, enhanced damages and other relief to which it may be entitled. A jury trial is demanded.

Kenneth Thomas Emanuelson of Ross Joyner PLLC in Dallas and Ronald W Burns of Frisco.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap and referred to Magistrate Judge Roy Payne for pretrial proceedings.

 

May 27

• Innovative Solutions & Support Inc. v Mid-Continent Instrument Co. et al Case No. 2:14-cv-00645

Plaintiff ISS is a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place of business in Exton, Penn.

According to the suit, ISS draws on its innovative technology to innovate and develop various avionics systems, products, and services, including flight guidance and cockpit display systems for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and retrofit applications.

Among other things, ISS’s display systems provide highly accurate and reliable products for displaying engine related data and system parameters. As a result of this technology, ISS has become a leading source for flight guidance and cockpit display solutions.

The defendants are Mid-Continent Instrument Co. Inc., Hartsell Avionics Inc., Quality Aircraft Services, Aerospace Instrument Support, Tech Aero Avionics, US Aviaton Group LLC, Tomlinson Avionics of Texas, Aerotex International Inc., Air Dallas Instruments Inc. and Select Avionics. All of the defendants are Texas companies.

The patent in suit is U.S. Patent No. 7,346,854 issued March 18, 2008, for a Method and Apparatus for Facilitating Entry of Manually-Adjustable Data Setting in an Aircraft Cockpit.

According to the suit, defendant Mid-Continent is an aviation product manufacturer and distributor which designs and sells a range of aviation systems and technologies including a Standby Attitude Module (SAM Product) that is designed to display navigation and engine related data and aircraft system parameters. The other defendants are Mid-Continent distributors that sell aviation systems designed and manufactured by Mid-Continent.

Mid-Continent’s SAM is a solid-state instrument that provides attitude, altitude, airspeed and slip information to the pilot during normal operation or in the case of primary instrument failure.

The plaintiff is seeking a permanent injunction, damages, costs, interest, expenses, attorneys’ fees and other relief to which it may be entitled. A jury trial is requested.

E. Glenn Thames Jr. of Potter Minton in Tyler is representing the plaintiff.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap.

 

May 30

• Growing Technology LLC v Broadcom Corp. Case No. 2:14-cv-00649

Plaintiff Growing Technology is a Texas limited liability corporation.

The defendant is accused of infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,242,812 issued June 10, 2007, for a method for Coding and Decoding of Video Data.

According to the suit, the ‘812 Patent is a novel method for coding and decoding video data and codec thereof are disclosed. The invented method provides an FGS (fine grained scalability) algorithm using bit plane coding technique.

Broadcom’s allegedly infringing products include devices having touchscreen capabilities and modules.

The plaintiff is seeking injunctive relief, compensatory damages, costs, expenses, interest, attorneys’ fees and other relief to which it may be entitled. A jury trial is demanded.

The plaintiff is represented by Winston O. Huff of W.O. Huff & Associates PLLC in Dallas.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap.

 

• Emmanuel G. Gonzalez v Autotrader.com Inc. Case No. 2:14-cv-00651

• Emmanuel G. Gonzalez v Social Concepts Inc. Case No. 2:14-cv-00650

Plaintiff Emmanuel Gonzalez is an individual resident and citizen of Cebu, Philippines, with secondary residences in Makati City, Philippines, and British Columbia, Canada.

The defendants are accused of infringing on:

U.S. Patent No. 7,558,807 issued July 7, 2009, for a Host Website for Digitally Labeled Websites and Methods;

U.S. Patent No. 7,647,339 issued Jan. 12, 2010, for a Method for Digitally Labeling Websites;

U.S.  Patent No. 7,873,665 issued Jan. 18, 2011, for a Method for Digitally Labeling Websites;

U.S. Patent No. 8,065,333 issued Nov. 22, 2011, for a Method for Digitally Labeling Websites; and

U.S. Patent No. 8,296,325 issued Oct. 23, 2012, for a Method for Digitally Labeling Websites.

Plaintiff Emmanuel Gonzalez is the sole inventor and original owner of the matter of each of the patents-in-suit, according to the suits. The plaintiff claims his patents have never been assigned, sold or licensed to any third party.

Gonzalez is seeking compensatory damages no less than a reasonable royalty, interest, attorneys’ fees and other relief deemed just and proper. A jury trial is demanded.

Gonzalez is represented by M. Scott  Fuller, Paul D. Lein and Darrian L. Campbell of Locke Lord LLP in Dallas.

The cases have been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap and referred to Magistrate Judge Roy Payne.