Bell Northern Research, LLC has filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against proposed respondents BBK Electronics (OnePlus), BLU Products, HMD Global, Lenovo (Motorola Mobility), Sonim, and TCL (TCT Mobile) (337-TA-3568). District court cases are already underway against several of these companies, with litigation filed by Bell Northern active against Apple, CommScope (ARRIS; Ruckus Wireless), Dell, and HP as well. The activities of one of the defendants no longer in suit in this campaign, Samsung, form the basis of the claim to a domestic industry that Bell Northern pleads, although it "reserves the right to rely on other or additional licenses, or its own substantial investments in licensing related to the Asserted Patents, to meet the domestic industry requirement".
In its ITC complaint, Bell Northern characterizes its "lineage" as "extend[ing] back to a collection of companies in the 1800's, referred to as the Bell System, that sprang to life from the ideas and patented technologies created by Alexander Graham Bell". After recounting the breakups and mergers of various parts of that "Bell System", BNR pleads that it is a Delaware LLC "formed mainly by alumni from legacy Bell companies, including Nortel Networks, to administer and license patents developed by the Bell Systems companies, as well as from other technology companies".
Bell Northern has disclosed its corporate parents, Hilco, Inc. (d/b/a Hilco Global), Hilco IP Merchant Capital, LLC, and Hilco Patent Acquisition 56, as nonparties having an interest in the outcome of its litigation. The connections between Bell Northern and financial services conglomerate Hilco are covered more fully in August's "Bell Northern Research Keeps Its Mobile Devices Campaign Alive with Suits Against Apple, Lenovo" on RPX Insight, which also provides additional details concerning the past conduct of this campaign. Huawei, Kyocera, LG Electronics, Samsung, Yulong Computer Communications (Coolpad Technologies), and ZTE have all seen cases filed against them, followed by the gradual dismissal of the patents-in-suit before an eventual settlement and dismissal with prejudice.
As noted, it is an apparent license to Samsung to which Bell Northern points as providing a link to US activity that forms its extant claim to a domestic industry, although it, as required, submits a confidential exhibit outlining for the Commission its current list of licensees. The public complaint also recounts alleged histories of licensing contacts with the proposed respondents beginning in December 2017 (as to Lenovo and TCL), January 2018 (for BLU Products), February 2018 (Sonim), and July 2019 (BBK/OnePlus and HMD).
Four patents are asserted in Bell Northern's ITC complaint (7,319,889; 8,204,554; 8,416,862; RE48,629). The plaintiff describes the '889 and '554 patents as "improv[ing] upon wireless technology by developing a way of prolonging the use of a mobile device without increasing the battery's capacity"; the '862 patent, as "improv[ing] efficiencies in wireless communication systems transmitting feedback of transmitter beamforming information, particularly using polar coordinates"; and the '629 patent, as "improv[ing] upon wireless communication systems by developing a way to ensure compatibility with legacy devices having different standards (e.g. 802.11a and 802.11g) and decreasing power back-off".
Across its district court complaints, the plaintiff has asserted 16 patents, in overlapping sets, most recently in late September suits filed against BBK Electronics (OnePlus) (3:21-cv-02293) in the Northern District of Texas and against BLU Products (1:21-cv-23484) in the Southern District of Florida. Throughout this campaign, the Hilco subsidiary has targeted device (e.g., smartphone) compliance with various 802.11 networking standards, the incorporation of heat spreaders, proximity sensors, alarm systems, and more.
Currently available USPTO assignment records identify over 110 patent assets held by Bell Northern itself. Note that in January 2018, three Hilco subsidiaries (Bell Northern Research, as well as Bell Semiconductor, LLC and Hilco Patent Acquisition 56) granted a security interest in over 3,700 patent assets, including the patents now in litigation, to unnamed "Secured Parties" through a document signed on behalf of those parties by Cortland Capital Market Services, a Chicago-based investment servicing company (and a subsidiary of global private equity firm Alter Domus). The vast majority of the patent assets covered by that security interest were passed to Bell Semiconductor from Broadcom through multiple assignments, dated December 8, 2017.
Bell Northern is one among a growing number of NPEs that have turned to the ITC for patent enforcement. See "Proven Networks Joins the Ranks of NPEs Filing Before the ITC" (June 2021) for coverage of that trend, as well as here for subsequent related developments. 9/27, ITC; 9/27, BBK/OnePlus, Northern District of Texas; 9/30, BLU Products, Southern District of Florida.
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