Korean plaintiff Wilus Institute of Standards & Technology, Inc. has launched what appears to be its first US litigation, suing ASUSTek (Askey Computer) (2:24-cv-00753), HP (2:24-cv-00752), and Samsung (2:24-cv-00746) in a trio of new Eastern District of Texas complaints. Six wireless communications patents are asserted, in overlapping subsets, with infringement allegations targeting a wide array of devices that are compliant with the WiFi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) standard. Wilus discloses Good Day to Invent, Inc. as its corporate parent.
The plaintiff accuses HP and Samsung of infringing the same four patents (10,313,077; 10,687,281; 11,159,210; 11,470,595), described as "relate[d] to the 'PHY' or 'physical layer' of wireless communications technology", HP through the provision of "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) enabled devices, including laptops and desktop"; Samsung, of "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) enabled devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops, e-readers, cameras, appliances, and wearables". Askey is accused of infringing the '077 patent and two others (10,651,992; 11,128,421), also described as "relate[d] to the 'PHY' or 'physical layer' of wireless communications technology". Infringement allegations in that complaint focus on the provision of "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) enabled devices, including routers and other access point devices".
Publicly available USPTO records suggest that rights as to various patents, including the patents asserted here, have passed back and forth between Wilus Institute and SK Telecom. The most recent transfer, of more than three dozen assets (including all six asserted patents), is dated in May 2024 and was recorded the next month. Jin Sam Kwak, an inventor named on some of the patents now in suit, signed for Wilus, as its CEO. On social media, Kwak holds himself out as having served as "CEO, WILUS Inc." with "WILUS, Inc." and "Chief Executive Officier [sic], Founder" with "WILUS Institute", both since November 2012. Prior to that, he reports having served as a Senior Research Engineer (from January 2007 through February 2009) and Chief Research Engineer (from March 2009 through October 2012) with LG Electronics.
Wilus was formed in Korea on May 23, 2012. It describes itself on a public website as a "leading independent R&D lab based in South Korea, with a 12-year track record of developing new technologies related to wireless communications and multimedia". As noted, in a court disclosure, the plaintiff pleads that its parent corporation is Good Day to Invent, an apparent Korean entity, albeit of uncertain operations but described elsewhere as also under Kwak's control.
Wilus is further described (on its website) as having made "over 700 technical contributions to leading standards bodies including 3GPP (for LTE and 5G), IEEE 802.11 (for Wi-Fi 6, 7 and beyond) and MPEG (for MPEG-H 3D Audio & Versatile Video Coding)", as well as having joined multiple patent pools, including the Avanci, LLC 5G Patent Pool (as a licensor) in 2023 and the Avanci 4G Patent Pool (as a licensor) in 2021; the Sisvel International S.A. Wi-Fi 6 and 5G Multimode Patent Pools (as a founding member and licensor) in 2023; and the VIA Licensing Alliance LLC MPEG-H 3D Audio Patent Pool (as a founding member and licensor) in 2021; among others.
The plaintiff alleges that HP's infringement has been willful, pleading that HP was sent a letter by Sisvel International (in its role as "licensing manager" of certain IEEE Wi-Fi 6 standard patents) in August 2022 that "conveyed Wilus and Sisvel's belief that HP's products practiced Wilus patents and required a license", as well as a second letter in January 2023 that "included a 'list of Pool Wi-Fi 6 SEPs evaluated by independent third-party patent evaluators as being essential to the Wi-Fi 6 Standard'" which included the four asserted patents.
The plaintiff alleges that Samsung's infringement has been willful as well, pleading that the defendant (a participant in the IEEE task group that developed the 802.11ax standard) had been aware of "Letters of Assurance" sent by Wilus to the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board Patent Committee stating that it may "own, control, or have the ability to license patent claims that might be or become essential patent claims for the IEEE 802.11ax and 802.11 standards". The plaintiff further indicates that Samsung was sent a letter by Sisvel International S.A. in April 2022 that "conveyed Wilus and Sisvel's belief that Samsung's products practiced Wilus patents and required a license". Finally, the plaintiff alleges that Sisvel sent another letter to Samsung in January 2023 that "included a 'list of Pool Wi-Fi 6 SEPs evaluated by independent third-party patent evaluators as being essential to the Wi-Fi 6 Standard'" which included the four asserted patents.
The plaintiff also pleads willful infringement as to Askey, alleging that Sisvel International sent a letter to it in August 2022 (with follow up letters sent in January, September, and October 2023) that "conveyed Wilus and Sisvel's belief that Askey's products practiced Wilus patents and required a license.
The new cases have been assigned to Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap. Russ August & Kabat provides representation. 9/11, Samsung, 9/13, Askey, HP, Eastern District of Texas.
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