`Unified Patents Inc. v. Bradium Technologies LLC
`IPR2018-00952
`Page 1 of 3
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`Unified Patents Adds AIA Reviews To Anti-'Troll' Arsenal - Law360
`EXHIBIT
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`Pla et D os, L C
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`Unified Patents dds
`rsenal
`Re ie s To nti-Troll"
`By Erin Coe
`Law360, San Diego (June 23, 2015, 2:07 PM EOT) - Technology industry consortium Unified Patents
`Inc. has lodged nearly two dozen America Invents Act proceedings to challenge patents it believes
`should never have been issued in the first place, an approach that attorneys say builds on tactics by
`defensive patent aggregators in their shared effort to combat so-called patent trolls.
`Unified Patents, whose more than 90 members include Google Inc. and NeU\pp
`Inc., was formed in
`the summer of 2012, right before the America Invents Act took hold. That law allowed for more
`concerted invalidity attacks on patents in inter partes review proceedings before the U. S. Patent and
`Trademark Office, and Unified Patents hasn't wasted any time making use of the reviews.
`In a push to remove weak patents from the marketplace altogether. Unified Patents has filed a total
`of 21 inter partes review petitions since 2012 - more than any other third party. It was the first
`independent entity to initiate an inter partes review that led to the invalidation of a patent - owned
`by Clouding IP LLC covering cloud technology - in March, according to the group's chief operating
`officer, Shawn Ambwani.
`The group targets patents in five "zones": cloud storage, content delivery, electronic payments,
`wireless and automotive.
`"We are like a bulldog, " Ambwani said. "If you come into our zone with crappy patents, we're going to
`bite you."
`For years, nonpracticing entities have been a thorn in tech companies' side. They acquire often
`broadly written patents and assert them against companies in the hopes of extracting a quick
`settlement that is less expensive for defendants than fighting the case in court.
`In response, some technology companies have sought protection by joining groups like RPX Corp.
`and Allied Security Trust that use membership fees to acquire patents that are viewed as a risk of
`being asserted in abusive suits.
`A unique and important part of Unified Patents' overall strategy is filing inter partes review petitions
`to undermine current assertions based on invalid patents by large nonpracticing entities against
`companies in the technology industry as well as the auto industry and to deter future claims in the
`same space, according to Ambwani. While RPX has filed a total of 14 inter partes review petitions, its
`focus remains on defensive patent acquisition.
`Inter partes reviews are proving to be a major weapon against nonpracticing entities because, if the
`USPTO holds a patent is invalid, that finding does not just benefit defendants in immediate litigation,
`but it also benefits those in the field that could be subject to suits, according to Mark Wine, co-head
`of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's patent practice.
`"Getting a license on a patent or buying a patent doesn't give the entire marketplace freedom to
`operate, but an inter partes review strategy can wipe that patent out, " he said.
`Unified Patent's use of inter partes reviews adds to other groups' attempts to thwart nonpracticing
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`Bradium Exhibit 2025
`Unified Patents Inc. v. Bradium Technologies LLC
`IPR2018-00952
`Page 2 of 3
`
`9/9/2018
`Unified Patents Adds AIA Reviews To Anti-'Troll' Arsenal - Law360
`entities, including patent purchasing and licensing strategies and lobbying for patent law reform in
`Congress, according to Eugene Mar, a partner at Farelta Braun & Martel LLP.
`"Unified Patents and other defensive patent consortiums are part of the rubric to get at the patent
`troll problem, " he said. "I wouldn't attribute credit to any one group for being the solution to the
`problem, but Unified Patents is part of the mix and addresses some of the patents creating
`headaches for folks."
`RPX, a publicly traded company that has more than 220 members, concentrates on acquiring patents
`before they get into the hands of a nonpracticing entity, and members can obtain licenses to every
`patent it owns. It also will purchase patents from nonpractidng entities that are asserted against RPX
`members that seek to settle litigation. According to the group, it has spent more than $2 billion to
`acquire more than 10, 000 patent assets and rights, avoiding more than 3, 000 suits and leading to
`more than 800 dismissals from suits on behalf of its members.
`Allied Security Trust also buys patents, including some from nonpracticing entities, with the hope of
`protecting members from litigation. It does not license the patents it purchases to all of its members,
`but only to those that helped fund the acquisition. Its 28 members include Google, Microsoft Corp.
`and IBM Corp.
`While purchasing patents from nonpracticing entities might reduce the immediate cost of litigation, it
`does not deter future litigation, according to Ambwani, whose group has a patent-purchasing
`component but has never bought a patent from a nonpracticing entity.
`"We do not believe it is possible to buy your way out of the nonpracticing entity problem, " he said. "It
`merely exacerbates it by decreasing transaction costs and incentivizing nonpracticing entities to go
`after the same groups over and over again since they can get a good return."
`Linda Biel, senior vice president of business development at Allied Security Trust, disagreed that its
`strategy fueled litigation, saying she sees the approaches used by both Unified Patents and Allied
`Security Trust as being complementary to each other.
`"While Unified Patents focuses more on challenging assets held by nonpracticing entities, we are
`watching patents that are up for sale and trying to keep them from getting into the hands of
`nonpracticing entities, " she said. "The right thing to do is a combination of things. This is a complex
`problem, and there is no simple solution to it. Our members believe it's cheaper to buy a portfolio on
`the open market and avoid litigation instead of waiting until they've been sued. Inter partes reviews
`are not cheap. They play a valuable role, but they are not the only role."
`Although courts are still seeing a steady stream of nonpracticing entity suits, each group has been
`successful to some extent at keeping large numbers of patents off the nonpracticing entity docket,
`particularly patents that would be asserted against companies that sell high-volume end products,
`such as cellphones and computers, according to Blaney Harper, a partner at Jones Day.
`"It is not a realistic goal for these groups to stop nonpracticing entity litigation because the patent
`space is just too big and diverse for the groups to realistically cover, " he said. "I think what can be
`said is that these groups do offer - and have offered - a viable alternative for reducing the
`exposure of some companies to nonpracticing entity litigation in specific risk circumstances."
`With 300, 000 patents issued every year, nonpracticing entities have plenty of opportunities to pick up
`and assert patents, and as a result. Unified Patents will continue to play a key role in combating
`weak patents, according to Ambwani.
`"If you look at high-tech nonpracticing entity litigation, it is ridiculously high compared to every other
`industry, " he said. "I haven't seen a significant decrease in that litigation yet, and I don't see our
`model becoming any less viable."
`Harper said there is always likely to be a place for industry consortiums as long as nonpracticing
`entity suits are around, but their utility may be reduced over time.
`"The evolving state of damages law, applicability of inter partes reviews, and infringement pleadings
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`Bradium Exhibit 2025
`Unified Patents Inc. v. Bradium Technologies LLC
`IPR2018-00952
`Page 3 of 3
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`Unified Patents Adds AIA Reviews To Anti-'Troll' Arsenal - Law360
`and defenses give companies more reasons to have less exposure to nonpracticing entities, and this
`will reduce the motivation to enter into the subscription models to mitigate the nonpracticing entity
`litigation, " he said. "I am sure that the subscription services will try to change their subscription
`model to account for the evolving law and other factors, but I think they will be playing catch up, and
`the importance and applicability of the subscription service will decline over time."
`-Editing by Jeremy Barker and Philip Shea.
`All Content © 2003-2018, Portfolio Media, Inc.
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