IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`MARSHALL DIVISION
`
`CONSTELLATION DESIGNS, LLC,
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`LG ELECTRONICS, INC, LG
`ELECTRONICS USA, INC., AND LG
`ELECTRONICS ALABAMA, INC.
`
`Defendants.
`
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
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`Civil Action No.: 2:21-cv-448
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`PLAINTIFF CONSTELLATION DESIGNS, LLC’S
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
`
`Constellation Designs, LLC (“Constellation Designs,” “CD,” or “Plaintiff”), brings this
`
`action for patent infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 10,567,980; 8,842,761; 10,693,700; 11,019,509;
`
`11,018,922; 9,743,290; and 11,039,324 (see Exhibits 1–7) under 35 U.S.C. § 271 against
`
`Defendants LG Electronics, Inc., LG Electronics USA, Inc., LG Electronics Alabama, Inc.
`
`(collectively, “LG Defendants” or “Defendants”) and alleges as follows:
`
`THE PARTIES
`
`1.
`
`Plaintiff Constellation Designs, LLC is a Delaware corporation and has offices in
`
`Wayne, Pennsylvania and Anaheim, California. Constellation Designs’ office in Pennsylvania is
`
`located at 123 West Wayne Avenue, Floor 1, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087.
`
`2.
`
`Defendant LG Electronics Inc. (“LGE”) is a South Korean corporation having a
`
`principal place of business at LG Twin Tower 128, Yeoui-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea
`
`07336.
`
`1
`
`LGE 1020
`
`
`FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`MARSHALL DIVISION
`
`CONSTELLATION DESIGNS, LLC,
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`LG ELECTRONICS, INC, LG
`ELECTRONICS USA, INC., AND LG
`ELECTRONICS ALABAMA, INC.
`
`Defendants.
`
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`
`Civil Action No.: 2:21-cv-448
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`PLAINTIFF CONSTELLATION DESIGNS, LLC’S
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
`
`Constellation Designs, LLC (“Constellation Designs,” “CD,” or “Plaintiff”), brings this
`
`action for patent infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 10,567,980; 8,842,761; 10,693,700; 11,019,509;
`
`11,018,922; 9,743,290; and 11,039,324 (see Exhibits 1–7) under 35 U.S.C. § 271 against
`
`Defendants LG Electronics, Inc., LG Electronics USA, Inc., LG Electronics Alabama, Inc.
`
`(collectively, “LG Defendants” or “Defendants”) and alleges as follows:
`
`THE PARTIES
`
`1.
`
`Plaintiff Constellation Designs, LLC is a Delaware corporation and has offices in
`
`Wayne, Pennsylvania and Anaheim, California. Constellation Designs’ office in Pennsylvania is
`
`located at 123 West Wayne Avenue, Floor 1, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087.
`
`2.
`
`Defendant LG Electronics Inc. (“LGE”) is a South Korean corporation having a
`
`principal place of business at LG Twin Tower 128, Yeoui-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea
`
`07336.
`
`1
`
`LGE 1020
`
`
`
`
`
`3.
`
`Defendant LG Electronics USA, Inc. (“LGUSA”) is a Delaware corporation having
`
`a principal place of business at 111 Sylvan Avenue, North Building, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
`
`07632.
`
`4.
`
`LG Electronics Alabama, Inc. (“LG Alabama”) is an Alabama corporation having
`
`a principal place of business at 201 James Record Road, Huntsville, Alabama, 35824.
`
`LGUSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of LGE.
`
`LG Alabama is a wholly owned subsidiary of LGUSA.
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`This action arises under the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.
`
`Subject matter jurisdiction is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and
`
`5.
`
`6.
`
`7.
`
`8.
`
`1338(a).
`
`9.
`
`Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c)(3) and 28 U.S.C.
`
`§ 1400(b) with respect to LGE.
`
`10.
`
`LGE is not a resident of the United States and may be sued in this District because
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`suits against foreign entities are proper in any judicial district where they are subject to personal
`
`jurisdiction.
`
`11.
`
`Defendant LGE and its subsidiaries have committed acts of patent infringement in
`
`this District.
`
`12.
`
`13.
`
`Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) with respect to LGUSA.
`
`Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) with respect to LGUSA
`
`because LGUSA has committed acts of infringement in this District and has a regular and
`
`established place of business in this District.
`
`14.
`
`LGUSA supports LGE’s TV business in the United States with local logistics, local
`
`sales, repair, and technical support in the United States.
`
`2
`
`
`
`
`
`15.
`
`LGUSA conducts business in and is doing business in this District and elsewhere
`
`in the United States, including, without limitation, using, offering to sell, selling, and/or importing
`
`communications devices such as TVs that practice the patented technology, enabling third party
`
`distributors and resellers to sell and offer to sell such devices, and enabling end-user purchasers to
`
`use such devices in this District.
`
`16.
`
`Specifically, LGUSA imports digital televisions with integrated receivers capable
`
`of: (1) receiving and processing signals using non-uniform parallel decode capacity optimized
`
`constellations; and/or (2) operating under different channel conditions by utilizing different non-
`
`uniform multidimensional constellation and code rate pairs, where some of the unequally spaced
`
`constellations have overlapping constellation points, into the United States and directs that such
`
`goods be delivered to a “Buyer-Notify Party” at a “NTX FORT WORTH WH.” See Exhibit 8.
`
`17.
`
`Furthermore, LGUSA has a regular and established place of business in this District
`
`at the “NTX FORT WORTH WH” where it receives the Accused Products upon importing them
`
`into the United States from LGE for sale to those in the United States.
`
`18.
`
`As the consignee of the goods being imported, LGUSA is the owner of such goods.
`
`See Exhibit 8.
`
`19.
`
`As such, LGUSA’s ownership of the imported Accused Products and repeated
`
`direction to deliver such Accused Products, among other goods, to the “NTX FORT WORTH
`
`WH” demonstrates that such “NTX FORT WORTH WH” is a regular and established place of
`
`business of LGUSA.
`
`20.
`
`There is an individual present to receive such goods at the “NTX FORT WORTH
`
`WH” either as an employee of LGUSA or as LGUSA’s agent conducting LGUSA’s business in
`
`this District.
`
`3
`
`
`
`
`
`21.
`
`The “NTX FORT WORTH WH” is an LG branded building located in this District
`
`at 14901 North Beach Street, Fort Worth, Texas, 76177. See Exhibit 9.
`
`22.
`
`Accordingly, venue is proper in this District as to LGUSA under 28 U.S.C.
`
`§ 1400(b).
`
`23.
`
`Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) with respect to LG
`
`Alabama.
`
`24.
`
`Venue in this District is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) with respect to LG
`
`Alabama because LG Alabama has committed acts of infringement in this District and has a regular
`
`and established place of business in this District at 2153 Eagle Parkway, Fort Worth, Texas 76177.
`
`25.
`
`LG Alabama supports LGE’s TV business in the United States with local logistics,
`
`local sales, repair, and technical support in the United States.
`
`26.
`
`LG Alabama conducts business in and is doing business in this District and
`
`elsewhere in the United States, including, without limitation, using, offering to sell, selling, and/or
`
`importing devices such as TVs that practice the patented technology, enabling third party
`
`distributors and resellers to sell and offer to sell such devices, and enabling end-user purchasers to
`
`use such devices in this District.
`
`27.
`
`28.
`
`This Court has personal jurisdiction over LGE, LGUSA, and LG Alabama.
`
`LGE and its subsidiaries, including LGUSA and LG Alabama, have conducted and
`
`do conduct business within the State of Texas.
`
`29.
`
`LGE and its subsidiaries, directly or through their subsidiaries or intermediaries
`
`(including distributors, retailers, and others), ship, distribute, make, use, offer for sale, sell, import,
`
`repair and/or advertise (including by providing interactive web pages) products and/or services in
`
`the United States and the Eastern District of Texas and/or contribute to and actively induce
`
`4
`
`
`
`
`
`customers to ship, distribute, make, use, offer for sale, sell, import, repair and/or advertise
`
`(including the provision of interactive web pages) infringing products and/or services in the United
`
`States and the Eastern District of Texas.
`
`30.
`
`LGE, LGUSA, and LG Alabama directly and through their subsidiaries or
`
`intermediaries (including distributors, retailers, and others), have purposefully and voluntarily
`
`placed one or more infringing products and/or services, as described below, into the stream of
`
`commerce with the expectation that those products will be purchased and used by customers and/or
`
`consumers in the Eastern District of Texas.
`
`31.
`
`These infringing products and/or services have been and continue to be made, used,
`
`sold, offered for sale, purchased, and/or imported by customers and/or consumers in the Eastern
`
`District of Texas.
`
`32.
`
`LGE and its subsidiaries have also placed the Accused Products into the stream of
`
`commerce by shipping Accused Products into the Eastern District of Texas, shipping Accused
`
`Products knowing that those products would be shipped into the Eastern District of Texas, and/or
`
`shipping Accused Products knowing that these Accused Products would be incorporated into other
`
`Accused Products that would be shipped into the Eastern District of Texas. See, e.g., Progress
`
`Report Fall 2020, LG Electronics, ATSC, https://www.atsc.org/atsc-progress/lg-electronics/
`
`(“Ushering in the NEXTGEN TV era, ATSC 3.0 co-developer LG Electronics has launched new
`
`OLED TV models equipped to receive new services with enhanced content, pictures and sound.”);
`
`LG Introduces ATSC 3.0-Enabled OLED TVs In USA, Ushering In ‘NEXTGEN TV’ Era, CISION
`
`PR Newswire (Jan. 8, 2020, 11:20 a.m.), https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lg-
`
`introduces-atsc-3-0-enabled-oled-tvs-in-usa-ushering-in-nextgen-tv-era-300983627.html;
`
`Phil
`
`Kurtz, LG Electronics to Rollout Six 3.0 TVs This Year in U.S., tvtech (Jan. 6, 2020),
`
`5
`
`
`
`
`
`https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/lg-electronics-to-rollout-six-3-0-tvs-this-year-in-u-s;
`
`LG
`
`USA Begins Rollout of 2021 OLED TV Lineup, LG (Mar. 24, 2021), https://www.lg.com/us/press-
`
`release/lg-usa-begins-rollout-of-2021-oled-tv-lineup (“LG G1 and ZX OLED TVs are ushering in
`
`the NEXTGEN TV era as American broadcasters prepare to launch services this year in 20 more
`
`cities with signals reaching the majority of TV viewers in America. NEXTGEN TV, powered by
`
`the ATSC 3.0 standard.”).
`
`JOINDER
`
`Joinder of Defendants is proper under 35 U.S.C. § 299.
`
`The allegations of patent infringement contained herein arise out of the same series
`
`33.
`
`34.
`
`of transactions or occurrences relating to the selling, or offering for sale within the United States,
`
`the same Accused Products, including receivers configured to utilize non-uniform parallel decode
`
`capacity optimized constellations, non-uniform multidimensional constellation and code rate pairs,
`
`unequally spaced constellations and/or the use of infringing methods for the reception of encoded
`
`data.
`
`35.
`
`Examples of
`
`these products
`
`include, but are not
`
`limited
`
`to,
`
`the LG
`
`OLED77G1PUA, OLED65G1PUA, OLED55G1PUA, OLED77ZXPUA, and OLED88ZXPUA
`
`television models, which are or have been manufactured with infringing receivers, which are
`
`imported, sold, offered for sale, and/or used in this District.
`
`BACKGROUND OF PATENTED TECHNOLOGY
`
`36.
`
`Constellation Designs’ breakthrough patented technology improves digital
`
`communication systems, allowing efficient over-the-air digital transmission and reception of high-
`
`quality audio and video.
`
`6
`
`
`
`
`
`37.
`
`Constellation Designs’ technology overcomes inherent issues and constraints in
`
`previous wireless communication systems, allowing for lower-power and more efficient
`
`transmissions.
`
`38.
`
`As described in the Asserted Patents, the term “constellation” is used to describe
`
`the possible symbols that can be transmitted by a typical digital communication system. See, e.g.,
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,842,761 (“the ’761 Patent”) at 1:29–31.
`
`39.
`
`Historically, communication systems used traditional “uniform” constellations that
`
`maximize the minimum distance between constellation points, because the “most likely to occur”
`
`error event will be established by the closest neighbors in a constellation.
`
`40.
`
`Uniform constellations that maximize dmin are depicted below:
`
`
`In 2007, while at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (“JPL”), inventors Maged
`
`41.
`
`Barsoum, Ph.D. and Christopher Jones, Ph.D. developed a technique for achieving “shaping gains”
`
`by selecting the location and labelling of the points of any constellation based upon a measure of
`
`7
`
`
`
`
`
`mutual information known as Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation (“BICM”) capacity or “Parallel
`
`Decode capacity.”
`
`42.
`
`The resulting constellations have non-uniformly spaced points at low SNRs and are
`
`therefore often referred to as non-uniform constellations (“NUCs”), e.g., NU-QAM (non-uniform
`
`quadrature amplitude modulations).
`
`43.
`
`That same year, Drs. Barsoum and Jones filed a provisional patent application, U.S.
`
`Appl. No. 60/933,319, to which the Asserted Patents claim priority.
`
`44.
`
`Shortly thereafter, the International Institute of Electrical Engineers (“IEEE”)
`
`published Drs. Barsoum and Jones’ work in a paper entitled “Constellation Design via Capacity
`
`Maximization.” M. F. Barsoum, C. Jones and M. Fitz, “Constellation Design via Capacity
`
`Maximization,” 2007 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, pp. 1821–1825
`
`(2007) (attached as Exhibit 10).
`
`45.
`
`Drs. Barsoum and Jones’ invention was groundbreaking but counterintuitive as the
`
`error rate on the pair of nearest neighbors in a non-uniform constellation will be higher than the
`
`error rate on the pair of nearest neighbors in a constellation that maximizes minimum distance.
`
`46.
`
` However, a key insight of Drs. Barsoum and Jones was that optimizing
`
`constellations for their inherent channel capacity (in particular, their parallel decode, or BICM,
`
`capacity), rather than dmin, would enable higher overall throughput in a coded system.
`
`47.
`
`This is true although some neighboring pairs of points in the proposed
`
`Barsoum/Jones constellations would have higher error rates as compared to constellations where
`
`dmin is optimized, and hence, uniform constellations.
`
`48.
`
`This seminal work of Drs. Barsoum and Jones has been recognized as
`
`groundbreaking.
`
`8
`
`
`
`
`
`49.
`
`For example, Constellation Designs’ technology has allowed broadcasting
`
`companies and consumer electronic device companies to usher in the “NextGen TV” broadcast
`
`standard by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (“ATSC”), known as ATSC 3.0.
`
`50.
`
`The ATSC approved the ATSC 3.0 physical layer as a Candidate Standard on
`
`September 29, 2015. ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Elevated to Candidate Standard, ATSC (Sept. 29,
`
`2015), https://www.atsc.org/news/atsc-3-0-physical-layer-elevated-to-candidate-standard/.
`
`51.
`
`Samsung described the development of ATSC 3.0 as “the next-generation
`
`terrestrial television broadcasting system, which will be the world’s first all-Internet Protocol
`
`broadcast TV system” which is “intended for use in the United States, South Korea, Canada,
`
`Mexico, and any other countries that choose to adopt it.” See ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Candidate
`
`Standard
`
`Approved,
`
`Samsung
`
`Newsroom
`
`U.S.
`
`(September
`
`29,
`
`2015),
`
`https://news.samsung.com/us/atsc-3-0-physical-layer-candidate-standard-approved/.
`
`52.
`
`In addition, Samsung highlighted “[t]wo important components” of ATSC 3.0:
`
`“low-density parity-check (LDPC),” and “non-uniform constellation (NUC), a key component
`
`for generating the modulated symbols and optimizing the transmission capacity for all reception
`
`conditions.” Id. (emphasis added).
`
`53.
`
`Samsung stated that “[b]oth LDPC and NUC will strengthen ATSC 3.0’s ability to
`
`deliver Ultra High Definition (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) programming as well as
`
`other new broadcast services.” Id. (emphasis added).
`
`54.
`
`Samsung’s article quotes Mark Aitken, Vice President of Advanced Technology
`
`for Sinclair Broadcast Group, as stating that “ATSC 3.0’s adoption of OFDM and cutting-edge
`
`enhancements in the physical layer such as NUC, combined with the flexibility and extensibility
`
`afforded by the previously approved Bootstrap system, means broadcasters are at the forefront of
`
`9
`
`
`
`
`
`delivering local content, advertising, and other services that our viewers and partners demand.” Id.
`
`(emphasis added).
`
`55.
`
`In March 2016, Senior Members of IEEE, including engineer Jinwoo Kim of LGE,
`
`wrote an article entitled “Non-Uniform Constellations for ATSC 3.0,” in which they state that
`
`“ATSC 3.0 will be the first major broadcasting standard, which completely uses NUCs due to their
`
`outstanding properties.” IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, Vol. 62, No. 1 at 197 (March 2016)
`
`(emphasis added) (Attached as Exhibit 11).
`
`56.
`
`In that article, the authors describe the history of “[c]onstellation shaping
`
`techniques” and acknowledge that “[t]he optimization of constellations in the 1-dimensional space
`
`with respect to BICM capacity was first described in [] “M. F. Barsoum, C. Jones, and M. Fitz,
`
`‘Constellation Design via Capacity Maximization,’ in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Inf. Theory, Nice,
`
`France, Jun. 2007, pp. 1821–1825.” Id. at 197 (emphasis added), 202.
`
`57.
`
`According to the article, author and LGE engineer Jinwoo Kim received his
`
`B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees in Korea, and “[s]ince 2003, he has been with LG Electronics[.]”
`
`Id. at 203. The article further states that “[h]is research interests include digital communications
`
`and signal processing.” Id.
`
`58.
`
`LG engineer Mr. Kim’s article also states that ATSC constellations are optimized
`
`to maximize BICM capacity, as taught by Constellation Designs’ patents. See, e.g., id. at 199
`
`(“When optimizing NUCs of a given constellation size m for a transmission system using a BICM
`
`chain, we need to maximize the BICM capacity CB.”).
`
`59. With respect to Fig. 9 (reproduced below), LG engineer Mr. Kim’s article compares
`
`the use of the NUC results over traditional uniform constellations (and demonstrates that 50%
`
`10
`
`
`
`
`
`more power (1.5x) is required to communicate with a traditional constellation as compared to a
`
`capacity optimized NU-QAM).
`
`
`Id. at 202.
`
`
`
`60.
`
`Also in 2016, ETRI, Huawei, HiSilicon, and Sony proposed adoption of BICM
`
`optimized NU-QAM constellations for 5G in 3GPP in separate proposals and encouraged further
`
`investigation into non-uniform constellations. See Exhibits 12–13.
`
`61.
`
`In June 2017, BICM-optimized NU-QAMs were adopted with the finalized ATSC
`
`3.0 A/322 Physical Layer Protocol. See Exhibit 14.
`
`62.
`
`And in September 2017, the IEEE Task Group AY voted to adopt a capacity
`
`optimized NU 64-QAM into IEEE 802.11ay. See Exhibit 15.
`
`11
`
`
`
`
`
`THE ASSERTED PATENTS
`
`63.
`
`Constellation Designs owns all rights, title, and interest to U.S. Patent Nos.
`
`10,567,980, 8,842,761, 10,693,700, 11,019,509, 11,018,922, 9,743,290, and 11,039,324
`
`(collectively, the “Asserted Patents”).
`
`64.
`
`65.
`
`The Asserted Patents are each valid and enforceable.
`
`Furthermore, when analyzed under the two-step framework set forth in Alice, the
`
`Asserted Patents are directed to patent-eligible subject matter. See Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank
`
`Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347, 2354 (2014); Cf., Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., No.
`
`2:20-CV-00382-JRG, 2021 WL 4206175, at *7 (E.D. Tex. Sept. 15, 2021).
`
`66.
`
`The Asserted Patents are directed to improvements in digital communication
`
`systems, including the implementation and use of non-uniform constellations, including parallel
`
`decode capacity optimized and multi-dimensional constellations, allowing efficient over-the-air
`
`digital transmission and reception of high-quality audio and video.
`
`67.
`
`Accordingly, the Asserted Patents are not directed to an abstract idea.
`
`68. Moreover, the Asserted Patents contain an inventive concept and the inventions
`
`contained therein are not well-understood routine, or conventional.
`
`69.
`
`The Asserted Patents describe the fundamental technological shift away from the
`
`conventional wisdom of using theoretically optimal uniform constellations that maximize the
`
`minimum distance between constellation points to instead focusing on non-uniform spacing of
`
`constellation points to increase the amount of information that can be correctly decoded in real-
`
`world receivers.
`
`70.
`
`This breakthrough technology was invented by Drs. Barsoum and Jones, embraced
`
`by the ATSC 3.0 standard, and endorsed by LG engineers themselves.
`
`71.
`
`Accordingly, the Asserted Patents are directed to patent-eligible subject matter and
`
`12
`
`
`
`
`
`are valid and enforceable.
`
`I.
`
`The ’980 Patent
`
`72.
`
`United States Patent No. 10,567,980 (“the ’980 Patent”), entitled “Methodology
`
`and Method and Apparatus for Signaling with Capacity Optimized Constellations,” issued on
`
`February 18, 2020, to inventors Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`73.
`
`The ’980 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 16/206,991 filed on
`
`November 30, 2018.
`
`74.
`
`The ’980 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`60/933,319 filed June 5, 2007.
`
`75.
`
`The ’980 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`050986 / 0586).
`
`76.
`
`A copy of the ’980 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 1.
`
`II.
`
`The ’761 Patent
`
`77.
`
`United States Patent No. 8,842,761 (“the ’761 Patent”), entitled “Methodology and
`
`Method and Apparatus for Signaling with Capacity Optimized Constellations,” issued on
`
`September 23, 2014, to inventors Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`78.
`
`The ’761 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 13/618,630 filed on
`
`September 14, 2012.
`
`79.
`
`The ’761 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`60/933,319 filed June 5, 2007.
`
`80.
`
`The ’761 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`050986 / 0586).
`
`81.
`
`A copy of the ’761 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 2.
`
`13
`
`
`
`III. The ’700 Patent
`
`
`
`82.
`
`United States Patent No. 10,693,700 (“the ’700 Patent”), entitled “Receivers
`
`Incorporating Non-Uniform Multidimensional Constellations and Code Rate Pairs,” issued on
`
`June 23, 2020 to inventors Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`83.
`
`The ’700 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 16/726,037 filed on
`
`December 23, 2019.
`
`84.
`
`The ’700 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`60/933,319 filed June 5, 2007.
`
`85.
`
`The ’700 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`051390 / 0026).
`
`86.
`
`A copy of the ’700 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 3.
`
`IV.
`
`The ’509 Patent
`
`87.
`
`United States Patent No. 11,019,509 (“the ’509 Patent”), entitled “Receivers
`
`Incorporating Non-Uniform Constellations with Overlapping Constellation Point Locations,”
`
`issued on May 25, 2021 to inventors Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`88.
`
`The ’509 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 16/728,384 filed on
`
`December 27, 2019.
`
`89.
`
`The ’509 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`60/933,319 filed June 5, 2007.
`
`90.
`
`The ’509 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`051390 / 0026).
`
`91.
`
`A copy of the ’509 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 4.
`
`14
`
`
`
`V.
`
`The ’922 Patent
`
`
`
`92.
`
`United States Patent No. 11,018,922 (“the ’922 Patent”), entitled “Methods and
`
`Apparatuses for Signaling with Geometric Constellations,” issued on May 25, 2021 to inventors
`
`Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`93.
`
`The ’922 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 16/734,261 filed on January
`
`3, 2020.
`
`94.
`
`The ’922 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`61/141,662 filed on December 30, 2008 and Provisional Application No. 61/141,935 filed on
`
`December 31, 2008.
`
`95.
`
`The ’922 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`052458 / 0043).
`
`96.
`
`A copy of the ’922 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 5.
`
`VI.
`
`The ’290 Patent
`
`97.
`
`United States Patent No. 9,743,290 (“the ’290 Patent”), entitled “Methods and
`
`Apparatuses for Signaling with Geometric Constellations in a Raleigh Fading Channel,” issued on
`
`August 22, 2017 to inventors Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`98.
`
`The ’290 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 14/943,003 filed on
`
`November 16, 2015.
`
`99.
`
`The ’290 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`61/362,649 filed July 8, 2010.
`
`100. The ’290 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`050986 / 0586).
`
`101. A copy of the ’290 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 6.
`
`15
`
`
`
`VII. The ’324 Patent
`
`
`
`102. United States Patent No. 11,039,324 (“the ’324 Patent”), entitled “Methods and
`
`Apparatuses for Signaling with Geometric Constellations in Rayleigh Fading Channel,” issued on
`
`May 26, 2021 to inventors Maged F. Barsoum and Christopher R. Jones.
`
`103. The ’324 Patent issued from U.S. Patent App. Ser. No. 16/752,332, filed on January
`
`24, 2020.
`
`104. The ’324 Patent claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No.
`
`61/362,649 filed July 8, 2010.
`
`105. The ’324 Patent is assigned to Constellation Designs, LLC (see Reel Frame No.
`
`052458 / 0101).
`
`106. A copy of the ’324 Patent is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit 7.
`
`ALLEGATIONS OF PATENT INFRINGEMENT
`
`107. Plaintiff incorporates the allegations of all of the foregoing paragraphs as if fully
`
`restated herein.
`
`108. As set forth below, the Accused Products incorporate, without any license from
`
`Constellation Designs, receiver technology protected by patents owned by Constellation Designs.
`
`Constellation Designs respectfully seeks relief from this Court for Defendants’ infringement.
`
`109. LG Defendants have and continue to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale,
`
`import, have imported, test, design, and/or market in the United States televisions with receivers
`
`that comply with the A/322 Physical Layer Protocol of the ATSC 3.0 Standard.
`
`110. The Asserted Patents are directed to technology practiced under the A/322 Physical
`
`Layer Protocol of the ATSC 3.0 Standard.
`
`16
`
`
`
`
`
`111. LG Defendants have and continue to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale,
`
`import, have imported, test, design, and/or market in the United States televisions with receivers
`
`that infringe the Asserted Patents.
`
`112. LG Defendants have directly infringed, and continue to directly infringe, the
`
`Asserted Patents under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a) by making, using, selling and/or offering to sell, in this
`
`District and elsewhere in the United States, and/or importing into this District and elsewhere in the
`
`United States, certain infringing receivers or televisions outfitted with receivers which infringe the
`
`Asserted Patents, as further described in detail in Counts I–VII infra (collectively, “Accused
`
`Products”).
`
`113. LG Defendants have also indirectly infringed, and continue to indirectly infringe,
`
`the Asserted Patents under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) and (c).
`
`114. LG Defendants knew and intended to induce the infringement of the Asserted
`
`Patents by customers and/or other third parties.
`
`115. The Accused Products have no substantial non-infringing use.
`
`116. The Accused Products include, but are not limited to, all LG G1 and ZX OLED
`
`televisions, and any televisions incorporating a ATSC 3.0-compatible transceiver, receiver, or
`
`processor that the LG Defendants have made, used, sold, offered for sale, or imported or indirectly
`
`caused or induced another to do any of the same.
`
`117. Plaintiff Constellation Designs reserves the right to accuse any LG products in the
`
`disclosure of infringement contentions in this action, and to accuse any forthcoming LG
`
`technology not yet commercially available.
`
`17
`
`
`
`
`
`118. LG Defendants’ acts of infringement have caused damage to Plaintiff. Plaintiff is
`
`entitled to recover from LG Defendants the damages incurred by Plaintiff as a result of LG
`
`Defendants’ wrongful acts.
`
`COUNT I
`(Defendants’ Infringement of the ’980 Patent)
`
`119. Plaintiff incorporates the allegations of all of the foregoing paragraphs as if fully
`
`restated herein.
`
`120. The Defendants have infringed and/or do willfully infringe the ’980 Patent.
`
`121. Plaintiff is the assignee and lawful owner of all right, title and interest in and to the
`
`’980 Patent. The ’980 Patent is valid and enforceable.
`
`122. Defendants have directly infringed, and continue to directly infringe, the ’980
`
`Patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing into the United States products
`
`that infringe the ’980 Patent including, but not limited to digital receivers capable of: (1) receiving
`
`and processing signals using non-uniform parallel decode capacity optimized constellations;
`
`and/or (2) operating under different channel conditions by utilizing different non-uniform
`
`multidimensional constellation and code rate pairs, where some of the unequally spaced
`
`constellations have overlapping constellation points.
`
`123. The products that infringe one or more claims of the ’980 Patent include, but are
`
`not limited to, at least the Accused Products.
`
`124. Further discovery may reveal additional infringing products and/or models.
`
`125. The Accused Products include all of the limitations of at least Claim 20 of the ’980
`
`Patent, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, and either directly or indirectly.
`
`126. Specifically, Claim 20 of the ’980 Patent claims a digital communication system
`
`comprising: (i) a receiver capable of receiving signals via the communication channel, the receiver
`
`18
`
`
`
`
`
`comprising (ii) a demodulator capable of demodulating a signal received via the communication
`
`channel; (iii) a demapper capable of estimating likelihoods from the demodulated signal using a
`
`symbol constellation; (iv) a decoder that is capable of estimating decoded bits from the likelihoods
`
`generated by the demapper; and (v) wherein the symbol constellation is an unequally spaced
`
`symbol constellation that is characterizable by assignment of locations and labels of constellation
`
`points that maximize parallel decode capacity of the symbol constellation at a given signal-to-
`
`noise ratio so that the symbol constellation provides a given capacity at a reduced signal-to-noise
`
`ratio compared to a uniform symbol constellation that differs from the symbol constellation only
`
`in that the minimum distance, dmin, between constellation points of the uniform symbol
`
`constellation is maximized. See Exhibit 16.
`
`127. Plaintiff Constellation Designs reserves the right to identify any other claims of the
`
`’980 Patent in the disclosure of infringement contentions in this action.
`
`128. When Drs. Barsoum and Jones’ patented inventions were adopted as part of the
`
`ATSC 3.0 standard, representatives of Constellation Designs’ patents reached out to LG
`
`Representative Wayne Luplow and LG Representative Nandhu Nandhakumar in an endeavor to
`
`partner with LG in licensing Constellation Designs’ seminal technology.
`
`129. LG Representative Wayne Luplow responded that LG had “ZERO/NO interest” in
`
`partnering with Constellation Designs. See Exhibit 17.
`
`130. Nandhu Nandhakumar stopped communicating with Constellation Designs after
`
`suggesting a phone call to discuss Drs. Barsoum and Jones’ innovations. See Exhibit 18.
`
`131. Accordingly, Defendants have had knowledge of the ’980 Patent family since at
`
`least as of receiving the email dated December 13, 2017, and as of participating in LinkedIn
`
`conversations about the Constellation Designs ATSC 3.0 innovations in January of 2018.
`
`19
`
`
`
`
`
`132. At a minimum, Defendants’ have had knowledge of the ’980 Patent at least as of
`
`the filing and/or service of this lawsuit and have continued their infringing activities.
`
`133. As such, Defendants’ infringement of the ’980 Patent has been and is willful.
`
`134. Defendants provide LG receivers to others for ATSC 3.0 testing within the United
`
`States and encourage broadcast networks, like TEGNA, Inc., to transmit signals to LG receivers
`
`in compliance with the ATSC 3.0 standard.
`
`135. LG NextGen TVs were used for the first live over-the-air broadcast of ATSC 3.0
`
`next-generation television in Korea in October 2016 and were used to test and demonstrate ATSC
`
`3.0 functionality for Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Michael O’Rielly in the
`
`United States in May 2018. See Phil Kurtz, ATSC Meeting Explores 3.0 Developments, tvtech
`
`(May 24, 2018), https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/atsc-meeting-explores-3-0-deployments;
`
`Glen Dickson, NewsFlash: ATSC 3.0’s Potential to be Tested in Phoenix, Dallas, ATSC (May 1,
`
`2018), https://www.atsc.org/news/newsflash-atsc-3-0s-potential-to-be-tested-in-phoenix-dallas/;
`
`Korea Broadcaster SBS and LG Test ATSC 3.0, The Broadcast and Playout Transmission Bridge
`
`(Oct. 1, 2015, 3:00pm), https://www.thebroadcastbridge.com/content/entry/3989/korea-
`
`broadcaster-and-lg-test-atsc-3.0.
`
`136. Defendants have continued to provide LG NextGen TVs for over-the-air broadcast
`
`testing in the United States and encouraged others to engage in such testing by infringing means.
`
`137. Defendants took the above actions intending to cause infringing acts by such
`
`broadcast networks.
`
`138. As such, Defendants indirectly infringe the ’980 Patent by inducing infringement
`
`by others, such as broadcast networks.
`
`20
`
`
`
`
`
`139. Defendants also indirectly infringe the ’980 Patent by inducing infringement by
`
`others, such as end-user customers, by, for ex
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