After more than a yearlong litigation hiatus, ImberaTek, LLC, an Ideahub, Inc. subsidiary, has sued Apple ( 1:24-cv-00129) in the Western District of Texas over nine patents described by the plaintiff as generally related to "techniques to integrate semiconductors in electronic module". Targeted is the provision of Apple's various A- and M-series systems-on-chip (SoCs), as well as "cellular devices, tablets, digital media players/video game consoles, laptops, computers, and displays" that incorporate those SoCs. The sole prior defendant in this campaign is Samsung.

That litigation ran, before Eastern District of Texas Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap, from June 2022 through January 2023. ImberaTek asserted six patents (7,609,527; 7,989,944; 8,222,723; 8,238,113; 8,368,201; 9,107,324), each of which is now in suit against Apple, together with three more (7,732,909; 11,071,207; 11,716,816). The plaintiff acquired its asserted patents from GE Embedded Electronics (f/k/a Imbera Electronics) in early 2020. Samsung responded to the original ImberaTek complaint with a motion challenging the plaintiff's standing to sue with respect to the '527 and '201 patents, contending that the "two patents were not assigned to ImberaTek's predecessor-in-interest and therefore could not have been assigned to ImberaTek".

ImberaTek filed an amended complaint, partially redacted, prompting Samsung to file an answer in December 2022, after which, in January 2023, the parties stipulated to a dismissal with prejudice, ending that case.

GE Embedded Electronics (f/k/a Imbera Electronics), a company that GE acquired in 2013, moved the bulk of its US patent portfolio to ImberaTek in two recorded 2020 assignments of roughly 25 US assets each. At the time of its acquisition, GE Embedded Electronics was described as "a pioneering Finnish company that has spent over 10 years developing advanced embedded electronics packaging technology and manufacturing solutions", language repeated in the plaintiff's complaints. The 50-plus patent assets transferred generally relate to those fields of technology: "techniques to leverage semiconductors in electronic modules such as printed circuit boards and package substrates", per the complaints.

ImberaTek, disclosing that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ideahub, Inc. (d/b/a IDEAHUB and/or IdeaHub), was formed in Delaware on December 13, 2019. IDEAHUB is a Korean monetization firm, CEO of which is Kyeong-su "Keith" Im. Im reports having left a position (as "Senior Director") with TiVo/Rovi the month before becoming IDEAHUB's CEO, in 2016.

IdeaHub's public website has been evolving over the years. On a past iteration, IdeaHub described itself as hoping to "be a connecting port for such [] ideas, just like a HUB airport" and advertised multiple licensing "programs": IOT and Industrial Automation, Wireless & Telecommunication, MPEG Audio, AR & VR, and Video Entertainment. In mid-2022, still bearing a 2018 copyright, its content changed, IdeaHub then listing three licensing "programs": IoT, Streaming, and Telecommunications. Now, the firm bills itself as the "world's first patent investment platform", providing an "opportunity for anyone to invest in technology, invest in patent rights through Idea Hub".

The site suggests that IdeaHub is "conducting crowdfunding for the first time in IdeaHub with Crowdy" with respect to a "[v]ideo compression standard technology HEVC standard patent" portfolio. This "project" advertises an expected rate of return of "5~17% per annum", with "200 million won" characterized as the project's "Recruitment amount" in a "Recruitment period" that lasts "Until 04.13". IdeaHub touts two projects that "have been successfully funded so far": IoT IP (with a "Total investment amount raised" at "About 12.1 billion" and a listed rate of return of 37 percent) and IoT-DASH (with a "Total investment amount raised" at "About 3.5 billion" and a listed rate of return of 27 percent).

IdeaHub indicates that it has "[j]oined 5 global patent pools and signed more than 200 patent license agreements"; that it has "[s]ecured approximately 3,000 patents in fields such as mobile communications, next-generation codecs, streaming, semiconductors, and cloud within 5 years of starting business"; and that it has an "[e]xpected revenue of KRW 300 billion over the next five years based on [its] extensive patent portfolio". The current version of the website lists its patent acquisitions by year: "first IoT patent for monetization service in 2017; "ETRI streaming patents" in 2018; "Cloud patent" and "3D-Package patent" portfolios in 2019; "SK Planet DASH patent" and "Pantech patent" portfolios in 2020; "IDC patent", "VVC patent from Yonsei University", and "WIFI patent" portfolios, as well as a "KAIST streaming patent contract", in 2021; and "Altimedia patent", "mid-term WI-FI patent" and "JVC HEVC patent" portfolios in 2022.

To explore the connections between these shifting programs and that various entities apparently implementing them, including Helios Streaming, LLC, Modern Telecom Systems, LLC, SIPCO LLC, and SynKloud Technologies, LLC, see "Former Imbera Electronics Assets Appear Headed Toward Assertion" (March 2020). To view IdeaHub's patent holdings on RPX Insight, see here. The firm's most recent acquisition of US patent assets, at least according to currently available USPTO records, is covered at "A First Look at Notable Patent Assignments" (February 2024).

ImberaTek pleads that Apple's alleged infringement has been willful, pointing to a letter purportedly sent to Apple on February 3, 2020, "informing Apple of its infringement of several of the ImberaTek Patents through, as a non-limiting example, the APL0898 and APL1022 and any other product packaged in a similar manner to these model numbers. The '909 and '944 patents, among others, were listed as non-exclusive examples of patents infringed by Apple in the body of the letter. The '527, '909, '944, '113, '201, '324, and '723 patents, among others, were listed as part of ImberaTek's full patent portfolio relevant to Apple's SoCs". Communications allegedly continued through May 2022.

Latham & Watkins LLP and Ward Smith and Hill PLLC represented ImberaTek in the Samsung litigation; Mayer Brown LLP and Cherry Johnson Siegmund James PLLC do so in the case against Apple, which has yet to be assigned to a judge. 2/5, Western District of Texas.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.