In separate Eastern District of Virginia complaints, SoundClear Technologies LLC has accused Alphabet (Google) ( 1:24-cv-00729) and Amazon (Amazon Web Services) ( 1:24-cv-00728) of infringing three patents originally developed at JVCKenwood. The Virginia plaintiff targets the provision of the defendants' respective voice assistants and related hardware and software products. At issue are features related to noise reduction, speech detection/processing, and volume control.
The subject matter of the asserted patents (9,031,259; 9,070,374; 9,804,819) breaks down as follows: the '259 patent is generally related to an "adaptive filter" that performs noise reduction by using detected "speech segment" and "voice incoming-direction" information; the '374 patent, to using a "light-emitting device" to indicate whether a device is in a "transmission mode or a standby mode"; and the '819 patent, to controlling the volume of an "audio output unit" based on a "locked" and "non-locked state".
Last September, JVCKenwood assigned the asserted patents, together with two others, to SoundClear Technologies. Over the past couple of years, JVCKenwood has divested batches of US patents to other NPEs, including Advanced Coding Technologies LLC, IdeaHub, Inc., and IP Bridge, Inc.
The plaintiff was formed in Virginia on June 29, 2023, indicating that it is member-managed. In court, SoundClear Technologies "certifies that it is wholly owned by SoundClear LLC. No publicly held corporation owns ten percent (10%) or more of SoundClear". SoundClear LLC was formed in Delaware on June 28, 2023. Little public information is available concerning SoundClear's management or personnel.
Eastern District of Virginia local rules require any "nongovernmental corporation, partnership, trust or other similar entity that is a party to, or that appears in, an action or proceeding in this Court" to file a statement that identifies "all its parent, subsidiary, or affiliate entities (corporate or otherwise) that have issued stock or debt securities to the public and also identifies any publicly held entity (corporate or otherwise) that owns 10% or more of its stock, and . . . identifies all parties in the partnerships, general or limited, or owners or members of non-publicly traded entities such as LLCs or other closely held entities" (or to file a statement that there is nothing to report under these provisions).
Presumably, SoundClear Technologies has complied with this requirement by identifying SoundClear as its sole owner, nevertheless shrouding the individuals behind the litigation by this Virginia-Delaware structure. The identity of SoundClear's funder has also been obscured. Virginia state records confirm that SoundClear Technologies is backed by financing, but a corporate services company signed for the secured party.
Daignault Iyer LLP represents SoundClear Technologies in this litigation. 5/1, Eastern District of Virginia.
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