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class="post-8901 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-fuel-cells category-green-patents category-hybrid-vehicles category-ip-litigation category-led-patents category-smart-grid-patents">
A number of new patent infringement lawsuits were filed in January and February in the areas of electric vehicle charging, LEDS, smart grid, and solar battery phone cases.
Electric Vehicle Charging
Technology for Energy Corporation v. Hardy et al.
In a lawsuit against a former employee, Technology for Energy alleges various breach of contract claims, breach of an employment agreement, and requests a declaratory judgment of patent invalidity and unenforceability.  The complaint was filed February 22, 2016 in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The patent at issue is U.S. Patent No. 9,020,771, entitled “Devices and methods for testing the energy measurement accuracy, billing accuracy, functional performance and safety of electric vehicle charging stations” (‘771 Patent).
The ‘771 Patent is directed to an instrument for testing electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS). Â Energy delivery from the EVCS to the load is monitored by the instrument to determine energy measurement and billing accuracy of the EVCS.
LEDs
Harvatek Corporation v. Cree, Inc.
This is the third lawsuit between these two LED makers involving white LED lighting technology (see previous posts here and here).
Filed January 26, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Harvatek’s complaint accuses Cree of infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,841,934 (‘934 Patent).
The ‘934 Patent is entitled “White light source from light emitting diode” and is directed to an LED white light source that emits short wavelength color light. Â The LED has a split metal substrate and a fluorescent glue that covers the LED chip and converts the short wavelength color light into white light.
Harvatek alleges that Cree’s CLM1 Series LED products infringement the ‘934 Patent.
Lighting Science Group Corporation v. Sea Gull Lighting Products LLC et al.
Lighting Science Group Corporation v. Hyperikon, Inc.
Lighting Science Group Corporation v. U.S.A. Light & Electric, Inc.
Lighting Science Group (LSG) filed three patent infringement lawsuits in late February, all in federal court in Orlando.
The complaint against Sea Gull was filed February 25, 2016 and asserts U.S. Patent No. 8,201,968 (‘968 Patent) and U.S. Patent No. 8,967,844 (‘844 Patent).  The accused products are Sea Gull’s Traverse Collection and Traverse II Collection products.
The complaint against Hyperikon was filed February 26, 2016 and alleges that Hyperikon’s LED Downlight products infringe the ‘844 Patent and U.S. Patent No. 8,672,518 (‘518 Patent).
Also filed February 26, 2016, the complaint against U.S.A. Light & Electric asserts the ‘968, ‘844, and ‘518 Patents and alleges that the defendant’s Recessed LED Downlight products infringe the patents-in-suit.
Entitled “Low profile light,†the ’968 Patent is directed to a luminaire including a heat spreader and a heat sink disposed outboard of the heat spreader, an outer optic securely retained relative to the heat spreader and/or the heat sink, and an LED light source.
The ‘518 Patent and the’ 844 Patent are entitled “Low profile light and accessory kit for the same†and relate to LSG’s disc light LED devices.
Lexington Luminance LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co. et al.
In a complaint filed February 25, 2016 in federal court in Marshall, Texas, Lexington Luminance accused Samsung of infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,936,851 (‘851 Patent).
The ‘851 Patent is entitled “Semiconductor light-emitting device and method for manufacturing the same†and is directed to LEDs having textured districts on the substrate such that inclined layers guide extended defects to designated gettering centers in the trench region where the defects combine with each other. This structure reduces the defect density of the LEDs.
The complaint lists a host of Samsung products including a number of Galaxy smartphones.
Smart Grid
Endeavor MeshTech, Inc. v. Rajant Corporation
Endeavor MeshTech (a wholly-owned subsidiary of patent monetization firm Endeavor IP) sued Rajant in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on January 4, 2016.
The complaint accuses Rajant of infringing three patents in a family – U.S. Patent Nos. 7,379,981 (‘981 Patent),  8,700,749 (‘749 Patent), and 8,855,019 (‘019 Patent), each entitled “Wireless communication enabled meter and network.â€
The patents-in-suit relate to a self-configuring wireless network including a number of vnodes and VGATES.
The accused products and services include Rajant’s BreadCrumb Wireless Nodes, InstaMesh Networking Technology, CacheCrumb, and Mesh Antennas.
Dipl.-In. H. Horstmann GmbH v. Smart Grid Solutions, Inc.
Horstman, a German company, filed this lawsuit against Smart Grid Solutions (SGS) in federal court in Atlanta, Georgia.
Filed on January 12, 2016, the complaint accuses SGS of trade dress infringement and various deceptive trade practices, as well as infringement of U.S. Patent No. D578,478 (‘478 Patent), a design patent entitled “Fiber optic cable.”
The ‘478 Patent protects Horstmann’s fiber optic cable design with each end including a semi-transparent curved end attached to the cable and a ribbed segment terminating at a flange.
Horstman alleges that SGS’s E-Scout FI-3C Underground Fault Indicator product infringes the ‘478 Patent.
JSDQ Mesh Technologies LLC v. Teco Energy, Inc. et al.
On February 2, 2016, JSDQ filed suit against Teco Energy and Tampa Electric Company, alleging infringement of four patents relating to wireless routing systems used in smart grid networks.
The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Nos. 7,286,828 and 7,916,648, both entitled “Method of Call Routing and Connection,†RE43,675 entitled “Wireless Radio Routing System,†and RE44,607 entitled, “Wireless Mesh Routing Method.â€
JSDQ alleges that Teco and Tampa Electric infringe the patents-in-suit because of their deployment of wireless mesh networking systems that incorporate Trilliant’s SecureMesh broadband mesh network.
JSDQ filed a similar infringement suit against Silver Spring and Pepco in September last year.
Solar Battery Phone Cases
iPowerUp Inc. v. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.
iPowerUp sued Ascent Solar Technologies (AST) for alleged infringement of two patents relating to solar battery charging cases for mobile phones.
The complaint was filed February 12, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The asserted patents are U.S. Patent No. 8,080,975, entitled “Portable and universal hybrid-charging apparatus for portable electronic devices” (‘975 Patent) and U.S. Patent No. 8,604,753, entitled “Method of distributing to a user a remedy for inadequate battery life in a handheld device” (‘753 Patent).
The ‘975 Patent is directed to a modular hybrid-charger assembly comprising a rechargeable internal battery connected to a port operable to function as a tetherless connection to a portable electronic device and a device holder having a framework operable to receive, hold, and release the portable electronic device.  The ‘753 Patent claims methods relating to use of the hybrid-charger assembly of the ‘975 Patent.
The accused products are AST’s Enerplex Surfr and Enerplex Surfr Amp cases for the iPhone 6/6s and the Enerplex Surfr for iPhone 5/5s.