Arigna Technology Limited, one of several plaintiffs associated with Dublin-based patent monetization firm Atlantic IP, has filed a single complaint against Alphabet (Google), Apple, Lenovo, Microsoft, OnePlus, Samsung, and TCL (6:22-cv-00151) in the Western District of Texas. Qualcomm is not named as a defendant in the case, but infringement accusations in Arigna's complaint target various devices and computers (e.g., desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones) of the defendants over their alleged incorporation of the Qualcomm QET4100 and/or QET5100-series envelope tracking modules. Targeting end-product providers over alleged inclusion of the same part has become a pattern for Arigna.
Comprising a family of one, the sole asserted patent (7,183,835) broadly concerns a semiconductor device "controlling a drive of an insulated gate transistor". It issued in February 2007 with estimated priority in January 2004, based on a Japanese filing. In February 2020, Mitsubishi Electric assigned the '835 patent to Arigna, together with roughly 30 others, which portfolio was joined by nine others that another Atlantic IP entity, Sonrai Memory Limited, had picked up from Microchip Technology, passing them to Arigna in March 2020.
Many of the defendants in this, Arigna's fifth litigation campaign to date, are already in suit with the Irish NPE, having been sued, starting last September, in its fourth campaign: first Apple and Samsung, sued together in a single complaint and then Google, LG Electronics (LGE), and OnePlus in separate cases (all filed in the Western District of Texas, except for the suit against LGE, which is underway in the District of Delaware). Two patents are asserted, one received from Microchip Technology and the other from Mitsubishi Electric, with infringement allegations focused on the alleged incorporation of the Qualcomm HG-11PG660-200 RF die semiconductor device, as well as the Qualcomm SDR865 transceiver and/or Skyworks SKY58258-11 front-end module.
Arigna is part of a growing web of affiliated Irish NPEs that have been acquiring and asserting patents from major operating companies under Atlantic IP's banner. Atlantic IP describes itself on its website as "specialized and focused on patent monetization, from patent review, selection, drafting, valuation and acquisition financing, to all phases of licensing from market studies, teardowns, negotiations and, when necessary, litigation". The firm also touts its backing by Magnetar Capital, a hedge fund with $13.5B in assets under management as of March 31, 2021, stating on its website that Magnetar has "co-invested in a number of Atlantic IP Services' intellectual property portfolios". According to that same website, portfolios under Atlantic IP's management include several already in litigation by the aforementioned web of Irish plaintiffs. For additional coverage of the connections between these plaintiffs and back to Atlantic IP and Magnetar, see "Kingston and Western Digital Caught in Web of Irish NPE Litigation" (June 2021).
Arigna started asserting its former Microchip and Mitsubishi Electric portfolios in the automotive sector, firing off three campaigns in early 2021, the earliest of which spread from federal district court to the International Trade Commission (ITC) late last year. However, the brakes have been pumped on parts of that litigation, with stays imposed to await word from the Federal Circuit concerning whether in-district dealerships can form anchor venue for associated automakers. To explore that issue and those campaigns, see "Mandamus Petitions Put the Brakes on Multiple Automotive Campaigns" (February 2022).
Arigna's new case, over the '835 patent, has been assigned to District Judge Alan D. Albright. 2/10, Western District of Texas.
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