On Monday, Pearl IP Licensing LLC filed a complaint against HTC America, Inc., a consumer electronics company, in the Western District of Washington for patent infringement alleging that HTC infringed its patent through the accused product’s ability to recover from voltage variance through a battery-monitoring system in processors used in HTC devices.
The patent-in-suit is United States Patent No. 6,819,539 (the ’539 patent), entitled “Method For Circuit Recovery From Overstress Conditions.” According to the complaint, this “compris(es) circuits for detecting an event and resetting a device when the event is a first predetermined type and circuits for providing recovery when the event is a second predetermined type.”
The plaintiff alleged that HTC infringed at least claim 1 of the ’539 patent by selling devices that infringe the patent-in-suit. As found in the claim chart, claim 1 stated “A method for circuit recovery from overstress conditions, comprising the steps of: (A) detecting an event; (B) storing said event; (C) comparing said stored event to a plurality of event types stored in a table to determine if said event is a first predetermined type or a second predetermined types; and (D) resetting a device when said event is a said first predetermined type and providing recovery when said event is a said second predetermined type.”
HTC purportedly infringed claim 1 of the ’539 patent because HTC’s accused product, such as the HTC U11, “discloses a method for circuit recovery from stress conditions (e.g., deviation of voltage from its normal values).” For example, the HTC U11 phone uses a Snapdragon 835 processor which includes “a battery monitoring circuit that generates a signal based upon the occurrence of a certain condition.” The plaintiff contended that the accused HTC product detects an event, such as detecting if the state is high or low based on predetermined types stated in code.
The plaintiff explained that HTC’s product compares a stored event to a table of thresholds or event types to determine which predetermined type the event would be based on information in the resource power manager, related code, and thresholds. Lastly, the plaintiff claimed that HTC’s “discloses resetting a device when said event is a first predetermined type and providing recovery when said event is a said second predetermined type” by using the Resource Power Manager (RPM) and looking at the various values and the different types and conditions.
HTC is accused of direct infringement and that it had knowledge of this alleged infringement. The plaintiff has sought an adjudication, an award for damages, pre and post judgment interest, an award for costs and fees, and other relief. Pearl IP Licensing is represented by Mann Law Group PLLC and Sand, Sebolt & Wernow Co., LPA.
