Earlier this month, Velocity Communication Technologies, LLC (VCT) sued Acer, ASUSTek, Cisco, D-Link, Dell, HP, HP Enterprise (HPE) (Aruba Networks), Juniper Networks (recently acquired by HPE), Lenovo (Motorola Mobile Communication Technology), LG Electronics (LGE), OnePlus, and TP-Link (an apparent subsidiary of JH-1 Zhao). Add Ericsson (1:25-cv-00912) and NETGEAR (1:25-cv-00894) to the list. Targeted throughout this new campaign, with the same 11 asserted patents, has been the provision of devices that support the IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) standard, including access points, computers, laptops, motherboards, routers, smartphones, TVs, workstations, and more.
A letter-writing effort appears to have preceded the courthouse turn here, with, for example, VCT alleging that Ericsson's infringement has been willful, pointing to several instances where the defendants had gained knowledge of the patents. In September 2020, NXP Semiconductors submitted a Letter of Assurance (LOA) for essential patent claims to the IEEE indicating that "NXP owns patents that may be essential to the implementation of 802.11ax". In March 2024, ZTE submitted a LOA to the IEEE indicating that it owned 802.11ax essential patents.
In April 2025, counsel for the plaintiff sent Ericsson a letter explaining that its patent portfolio covers "technologies 'incorporated into the IEEE 802.11ax (i.e., Wi-Fi 6) standard, including: Uplink Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (UL MU-MIMO); Basic Service Set (BSS) Coloring; Target Wake Time (TWT); Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA); Longer OFDM Symbol Duration; Beamforming; and Transmit Power Control (TPC)'" and that its patents "also cover[] technologies included in the mandatory sections of the Wi-Fi 6E extension of the 802.11ax standard".
The same 11 wireless communications patents (8,213,870; 8,238,832; 8,238,859; 8,260,213; 8,265,573; 8,270,343; 8,644,765; 8,675,570; 9,083,401; 9,596,648; 10,200,096) are asserted against each defendant in this campaign. All but the '570 patent came to VCT via NXP, which divested roughly 50 US patents to the plaintiff in March 2024. In January 2025, NCH 93, LLC, an entity formed in Delaware in September 2019, assigned the '570 patent to VCT as well. ZTE had transferred that patent to NCH 93 back in December 2019.
Formed in Delaware on March 15, 2024, VCT pleads that it "holds a pool of over 220 patent assets across 46 distinct patent families developed by leading pioneers from across the globe in the field of wireless communications, including Marvell Technology, Inc.; NXP Semiconductors N.V.; Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.; BlackBerry Ltd.; and ZTE Corporation". NXP acquired Freescale in late 2015. Transfers in 2019 (from Marvell) and 2020 (from BlackBerry) moved hundreds more patents to NXP. Some of the assets from BlackBerry, Freescale, and Marvell are among the 11 patents now in suit. Currently available USPTO records number VCT's patent well below the 220 pleaded, suggesting there may be additional transfers not yet recorded (or not yet made public).
VCT is linked to OptiMorphix, Inc., a litigating plaintiff the "authorized officer" of which is Brooks Borchers. Borchers is associated with multiple other litigation campaigns, including that of DIFF Scale Operation Research, LLC, which pleaded that its president and owner Borchers is "a former leader of research and development divisions at Boston Scientific Corporation"; Dynamic Data Technologies, LLC, a Delaware entity that provided as its address that of a residential home owned by Brooks and Rachel Borchers; Castlemorton Wireless, LLC, which litigated patents that it received in an assignment signed by Borchers, as the recipient's president; and, more recently, NexGen Control Systems LLC.
As has been typical for Borchers-linked entities, Berger & Hipskind LLP provides representation, as does Capshaw Derieux LLP in Texas, where District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III has been assigned to preside, and Bayard PA in Delaware, where District Judge Gregory B. Williams has been assigned. For additional background concerning this litigation, see "Velocity Communication Technologies Bursts out of the Litigation Blocks" (July 2025). 7/17, NETGEAR, 7/21, Ericsson, District of Delaware.
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