Amid the apparent conclusion of its first International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation, inventor-controlled IngenioSpec LLC has filed a second complaint before the ITC (337-TA-3777), which alleges infringement of three patents through the provision of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets. It names as proposed respondents ByteDance (Funnico, PICO) and purported manufacturer Qingdao Chuangjian Weilai Technology; HTC; Meta Platforms; and Valve. The plaintiff has also filed its first litigation in district court, with Eastern District of Texas suits against Bose (2:24-cv-00822), LG Electronics (LGE) (2:24-cv-00823), Samsung (2:24-cv-00819), and Sony (2:24-cv-00820). There, the plaintiff asserts seven patents (in overlapping sets) and targets the provision of "wireless communication devices, wearable hearing devices, and/or hearing enhancement systems" (i.e., earbuds) that support features such as Bluetooth connectivity, charging circuitry, EQ modes, microphones, signal modification, and touch controls.
At issue in the ITC complaint are three patents (10,310,296; 11,762,224; 12,078,870) broadly related to various aspects of activity-monitoring hardware in headset/eyeglasses-style wearables. Belonging to a family of 72, they issued between June 2019 and September 2024 with an earliest estimated priority date in April 2003. While the '870 patent is newly asserted, the '296 and '224 patents were previously asserted in IngenioSpec's first ITC complaint, filed in November 2023. There, the plaintiff targeted "electronic sunglasses that allow consumers to take pictures, record videos, make hands-free phone calls, and play music" and named as proposed respondents Bose; Everysight and purported manufacturer Quanta Computer; GGTR (Ampere, Ampere Technologies, Gogotoro) and manufacturer Zhuhai Wicue Technology; Lenovo; Lucyd (Innovative Eyewear); Seiko Epson (Epson America); Luxxotica Group (Luxxotica of America); Magic Leap; Razer; TCL (Falcon Innovations Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.); ThirdEye Gen; Vuzix; and XREAL and manufacturer Matrixed Reality Technology Co., Ltd. That investigation appears to now be winding down, with the plaintiff having announced in September 2024 that the "ITC investigation concluded successfully this month, with four companies exiting the product space in addition to [] eight new licensees". For more on that complaint, see "New ITC Complaint Targets Smart Sunglasses" (November 2023).
In the district court cases, four of the asserted patents (8,112,104; 11,829,518; 11,852,901; 12,044,901) also belong to that 72-member family while the remaining patents (8,582,789; 11,657,827; 11,488,618) belong to a 15-member family. The patents-in-suit issued between February 2012 and July 2024 with an earliest estimated priority date in April 2003 and are described in the plaintiff's complaints as generally related to "wireless communications devices, wearable hearing devices, and/or audio systems". Bose is accused of infringing the '789, '518, '2,901, and '4,901 patents; LGE, the '789, '827, '518, '2,901; and '4,901 patents; Samsung, the '104, '789, '618, '518, and '4,901 patents; and Sony, the '104, '789, '518, and '4,901 patents.
IngenioSpec, formed as "SmartIGlasses LLC" in California on September 25, 2012, acquired the patents either directly from the named inventors—David Chao, Kwok Wai Cheung, Thomas Howell, C. Douglass ("Doug") Thomas, and Peter P. Tong—or indirectly from IpVenture, Inc. On its website, the NPE describes itself as "creat[ing], invest[ing] in, acquir[ing], and licens[ing] innovative technologies and patents in the high-growth electronic eyewear market"; and IpVenture, its "affiliate company", as "offer[ing] patent consultation for companies and innovators looking to patent and realize value from their innovations". Thomas and Tong are identified as both companies' cofounders.
The new East Texas cases have been assigned to Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap. Russ August & Kabat represents the plaintiff in litigation. 10/7, Bose, LGE, Samsung, Sony, Eastern District of Texas; 10/10, ByteDance (Funnico, PICO), HTC, Meta Platforms, Qingdao Chuangjian Weilai Technology, Valve, ITC.
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