Storage Vectors LLC has filed suit against ASUSTek (2:25-cv-00278), Kingston Technology (2:25-cv-00277), KIOXIA (2:25-cv-00276), Seagate Technology (2:25-cv-00275), Silicon Motion Technology (2:25-cv-00274), Sony (2:25-cv-00273), and Transcend Information (2:25-cv-00272), each in the Eastern District of Texas. The New Mexico plaintiff targets with a single patent—generally related to managing data on a "storage system"—the provision of a wide array of products, ranging from smartphones to solid state drives (SSDs), that support the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.1 flash storage specification or 3D TLC NAND flash memory technology.
The asserted patent (10,095,426) issued in October 2018 to named inventors Ronald G. Benson and Rod Brittner. It belongs to a family of six with earliest estimated priority in March 2007, based on the filing of a provisional application. Publicly available USPTO assignment records do not reflect an assignment of the '426 patent to Storage Vectors, which nonetheless pleads ownership. One of the six family members was assigned in July 2022 to Streamline Data Storage LLC, an entity formed in Washington state by Benson and Jill A. Brittner, with Jill signing for the recipient as its manager.
Storage Vectors was formed in New Mexico on November 13, 2024, with no public information available concerning its management or personnel. These new complaints were filed by Rabicoff Law LLC, which has lately come to represent two bulk patent litigation filing operations: that of established figure Jeffrey M. Gross and that of an entrant, new in 2024, to this business, Eric Zautner. Rabicoff Law has begun to file so many new cases that it has occasionally made glaring errors—see, e.g., "Counsel for Multiple Bulk Filers Gets Wires Crossed" (February 2025). Whether Storage Vectors is eventually tied to Gross or to Zautner, it is likely to conduct its litigation in file-and-settle fashion, as campaigns definitively linked to either appear to unfold that way.
Gross is an inventor who turned to patent monetization years ago. Some of his cases have landed before Delaware Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly, the operation of whose standing orders has revealed that Gross has, at least in some of his litigation campaigns, proceeded with funding. For details, see "Volteon Cleans Up Prior Filing and Sues Two More" (February 2025). Zautner is a geography teacher at the Blue River campus of the Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Missouri who appears to have turned to patent monetization just last year, outed as the figure behind New Mexico plaintiff Pointwise Ventures LLC, also by Judge Connolly's standing orders. Gross-linked and Zautner-linked plaintiffs account for an outsized number of the patent complaints filed over the past 12 months, particularly since the demise of former top-filer IP Edge LLC.
Even before its current client makeup, Rabicoff Law was no stranger to bulk filing, having represented Cedar Lane Technologies Inc., an NPE that in just one of its campaigns sued over 325 plaintiffs, starting in 2019 (and still going today). A quick view of patent cases filed by Rabicoff Law over the last several years presents the following picture:
Cases Filed by NPEs Represented by Rabicoff LLC
Data for "2025 YTD" includes filings as of March 9, 2025. Patterned area shows a linear projection for filings in the remainder of 2025 based on remaining workdays and excluding federal holidays.
Note that dip between 2020 and 2021. In November 2020, Northern District of California Judge Vince Chhabria fined Isaac Rabicoff $1K under Rule 11 and the court's inherent authority for frivolous arguments made concerning the operation of Rule 15 (governing amended pleadings). The court also fined Kirk Anderson (an associate with Rabicoff Law) $500 under Rule 11 for similar litigation conduct. Judge Chhabria also referred Rabicoff to the Northern District of California's Standing Committee on Professional Conduct for a review of his conduct. Per the court,
Rabicoff is referred to the Committee for an investigation into the broader practices discussed in this order. Specifically, Rabicoff's chart asserts that he has filed 49 patent cases in this district in just over two years. Attorneys who regularly practice in the Northern District of California must be admitted to practice here; they may not appear pro hac vice. See Civil Local Rule 11-3. Moreover, Rabicoff appears to be engaging in a deliberate scheme to avoid paying pro hac vice fees—he has failed to seek admission to proceed pro hac vice or pay the corresponding fee in 30 of the 49 cases listed on his chart.
It bears emphasis that the Court has not investigated whether the information provided in Rabicoff's chart is complete or accurate. Nor has the Court fully explored all the potential rule violations that Rabicoff has committed. The Court requests that the Committee more thoroughly investigate and evaluate Rabicoff's practices and report back to the Court in writing with its findings.
Rabicoff paid the $1K fine and subsequently filed a motion to alter the court's judgment to remove the findings that he acted in bad faith and with an intention to mislead the court:
Rabicoff acknowledges, and sincerely apologizes, for the procedural irregularities and sloppiness in the way he handled this case. He fully accepts the consequences of his actions and will respect the Court and its procedures better in the future. Rabicoff accepts the Court's Rule 11 sanctions and has paid that amount. Rabicoff will work with the Standing Committee to address his pro hac vice practice and the conduct which is the subject of the Sanctions Order. Rabicoff, however, respectfully requests that the Court revisit two findings in its sanctions order: i) that he acted in bad faith in connection with filing amended pleadings and defending such conduct; and ii) that he made deceptive statements regarding the reason he missed the October 1, 2020 hearing on Defendant's motion to dismiss/strike. Rabicoff is not re-arguing the merits of the underlying issues; rather, he is asking the Court to respectfully reconsider its findings of bad faith and intention to mislead the Court. Rabicoff could have, should have, and will in the future, do better and be more diligent. Rabicoff acknowledges that the lack of bad faith is not a defense to Rule 11 sanctions and is not challenging the Court's imposition of sanctions.
Judge Chhabria summarily denied the motion to alter the judgment. If the Standing Committee reported its findings back to the court in writing, that report has not been docketed in the Cedar Lane case against Blackmagic.
Rod Brittner identifies himself on social media as having been a "Sr. Technical Program Manager" with Alphabet (Google) since October 2022, after stints with Marvell, Micron Technology, Sandisk (spun out of Western Digital in February 2025), Seagate, and Western Digital (not in that order). In the March 2007 timeframe, Brittner lists a position as "CTO/Founder" of DAVI Data Storage Technology, his work there described as: "Developed innovative patent pending technology to further advance towards Moore's Law. Ultimate goal achieved is reduce aspect ratio towards 1:1 as a long term value to the HDD industry". A Jill Brittner tags herself on social media as a "Quit Smoking Specialist, Hypnotherapist, and Meditation Instructor" in the San Jose, California area.
On social media, Benson indicates that he has been "Director of Machine Learning" with Amazon since April 2017. In the March 2007 timeframe, he lists a position as CEO and founder of Morphlix.com (from February 2006 to August 2008). Per Benson, Morphlix was "a startup going after easy access to video on demand".
District Judge Rodney Gilstrap has been assigned to preside over this new round of cases. 3/6, Eastern District of Texas.
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