April 28, 2024
Four among the roughly 60 patents that Toshiba divested to Four Batons Wireless LLC in June 2021 have now appeared in litigation. In a new Eastern District of Texas complaint, Four Batons accuses Samsung ( 2:24-cv-000284) of infringing those mobile communications patents through the provision of products—with the Samsung Z Flip 5 smartphone identified as the exemplary accused product—that support dual concurrent Wi-Fi, multiple heterogeneous radio interfaces, the WPA3 security certification standard, and the Samsung Intelligent Wi-Fi feature.
On June 11, 2021, Toshiba assigned 58 issued US patents, including the four now in suit (7,502,348; 8,073,436; 8,293,671; 8,798,006), to Four Batons, following that transaction up three days later with a second apparent divestiture, of three more issued US patents. The general subject matter of the transacted assets (viewable on RPX Insight here) is wireless networking and communications. The patents have a range of named inventors, including researchers, scientists, and engineers working at the time with Bell Labs and/or other entities associated with the former Bell communications enterprise. In 1996, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) acquired Bell Communications Research, changing its name to Telcordia Technologies (f/k/a Bell Communications Research, Bellcore), before Ericsson bought the company in January 2012.
Last October 14, "Telcordia Legacy Inc." assigned two batches of assets to Toshiba (one of three patents and the other of 59), including those that Toshiba just passed along to Four Batons. In the documents filed with the USPTO to substantiate the assignments, Telcordia Legacy represents itself as a Texas corporation (providing a purported "Texas tax id no."), but it appears that Telcordia Legacy was actually formed in Delaware in June 2015. John Moore signed for Telcordia Legacy in that transaction with Toshiba. A John Moore is identified as having been a vice president and general counsel with Ericsson's North America operations since 1993. Telcordia Legacy provides as its address that of Ericsson's Plano, Texas offices.
Signing for Four Batons on the June 2021 transactions from Toshiba to Four Batons is Sergey Kolmykov, doing so as the Four Batons general counsel. Kolmykov is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, billing itself as a "premier intellectual property litigation boutique based out of New York City" and founded in 2013. Four Batons identifies "Two Gold Capital, LLC" as its parent company. A Two Gold Capital LLC (no comma) was formed in Delaware on April 14, 2021.
Kolmykov also formed Markman Advisors with Gaston Kroub and Zachary Silbersher. Also established in 2013, Markman Advisors identifies itself as a "unique provider of patent-services" purportedly "distinguishable from other patent-service providers" by a "guidance . . . born directly from first-hand experience" of its founders as patent litigators. Markman Advisors and/or Kroub, Silbersher, & Kolmykov are associated with the assertion efforts of several other NPEs, including 2BCom LLC, North Plate Semiconductor, LLC, and Sentegra, LLC. For an overview of those campaigns, see "Set of Toshiba Divestitures Raises Prospect of New 5G Campaign" (July 2021).
The '348 patent generally relates to performing a "silent proactive handoff" of a device to a network, with infringement allegations in the new complaint focused on Samsung products that support "dual concurrent Wi-Fi"; the '436 patent, to controlling a "wireless mobile with multiple interfaces", corresponding allegations focused on Samsung products that support multiple "heterogeneous radio interfaces (e.g., LTE, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, 5GHz Wi-Fi)"; the '671 patent, to authenticating a "mobile supplicant" through "channel binding", on Samsung products that support the WPA3 security certification standard; and the '006 patent, to mobile devices that can conduct a real-time comparison of quality of interfaces (QoIs), on Samsung devices that support the Samsung Intelligent Wi-Fi feature.
Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap has been assigned to preside over this case, which was filed for Four Batons by Susman Godfrey LLP. The plaintiff alleges willfulness, pleading that it put "Samsung on notice of its patents and infringement thereof on November 11, 2021" through an email (attached to the complaint). 4/26, Eastern District of Texas.
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