Judge Profile

Kara L. Szpondowski

80 IP cases indexed. Covers patent matters.

Cases Presided Over

80 cases indexed | Page 2 of 3

patent terminated or settled · Mar 21, 2025

Mercedes-Benz Group AG et al. v.Phelan Group, LLC

· IPR2025-00758

Mercedes‑Benz and Phelan Group settled their dispute over U.S. Patent 9,908,508, leading the PTAB to terminate the inter partes review that had been instituted earlier in the year.

patent instituted · Mar 21, 2025

Mercedes-Benz Group AG et al. v.Phelan Group, LLC

· IPR2025-00758

Mercedes-Benz Group AG successfully challenged The Phelan Group's driver authentication patent (9908508) at the PTAB. The Board found a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on multiple grounds, including anticipation and obviousness over prior art references like Murphy and Petrik. This decision significantly strengthens Mercedes-Benz's position in related district court litigation against Phelan Group.

patent denied · Feb 28, 2025

TankLogix, LLC v.SitePro, Inc.

· IPR2025-00650

TankLogix, LLC's IPR petition against SitePro, Inc.'s patent was denied by the PTAB, finding insufficient evidence to support anticipation or obviousness challenges. The Board determined that TankLogix failed to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on the record regarding claims related to fluid handling and industrial control systems.

patent terminated or settled · Jan 25, 2025

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. et al. v.Koninklijke KPN N.V.

· IPR2025-00534

Samsung and Dutch telecom KPN settled their disputes, leading the PTAB to terminate six inter partes review proceedings before any hearing. The settlement agreement is kept confidential under statutory provisions.

patent terminated or settled · Jan 23, 2025

EP Family Corp. v.Office Kick Inc.

· IPR2025-00497

EP Family Corp. and Office Kick, Inc. settled their dispute and jointly moved to terminate the IPR before any institution, resulting in a confidential settlement and dismissal of the proceedings.

patent terminated or settled · Jan 20, 2025

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. et al. v.Koninklijke KPN N.V.

· IPR2025-00504

Samsung and Dutch telecom KPN settled their dispute, filing a joint motion that led the PTAB to terminate the inter partes review of KPN’s patent before institution. The settlement agreement is to be kept confidential.

patent terminated or settled · Jan 18, 2025

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Koninklijke KPN N.V.

· IPR2025-00512

Samsung Electronics and KPN settled their disputes and jointly moved to terminate six inter partes review proceedings, including IPR2025-00512 covering U.S. Patent 8,881,235. The Board granted the termination and ordered the settlement agreement to be kept confidential.

patent terminated or settled · Dec 11, 2024

Ericsson, Inc. v.Motorola Mobility LLC

· IPR2025-00174

Ericsson and Motorola Mobility settled their IPR dispute before trial, leading the PTAB to dismiss the petition and terminate the proceeding.

patent · Oct 24, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00002

The PTAB held that Samsung’s challenge to Netlist’s ’595 patent succeeded. All 24 claims were found obvious over prior‑art references Hazelzet, Buchmann and, for certain claims, Kim, rendering the patent unpatentable.

patent instituted · Oct 24, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00002

The PTAB instituted an IPR against Netlist’s ’218 memory‑module patent after finding Samsung’s petition showed a reasonable likelihood of success on all 22 claims, based on obviousness over Hazelzet combined with JEDEC, Buchmann, and Kim.

patent instituted · Oct 24, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00002

The PTAB instituted an IPR against Netlist’s ’595 memory‑module patent after finding Samsung’s petition showed a reasonable likelihood of unpatentability based on obviousness over Hazelzet, JEDEC, Buchmann, and Kim references.

patent all challenged claims unpatentable · Oct 24, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00002

Samsung Electronics successfully challenged Netlist’s ’218 memory‑module patent in an IPR, with the PTAB finding all 22 claims unpatentable as obvious over prior‑art references.

patent instituted · Oct 24, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00002

Samsung Electronics successfully secured institution in this IPR, challenging all 20 claims of Netlist's patent (11880319) based on obviousness and anticipation. The Board found that the Petitioner demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of unpatentability over various combinations of prior art, including Hazelzet, JEDEC, Buchmann, Wang, and Kim. This decision sets a strong precedent for challenging memory module initialization claims using industry standards and technical literature.

patent mixed - some claims cancelled, some upheld · Oct 1, 2024

Micron Technology, Inc. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2024-00370

The PTAB held claims 1, 10‑13, and 21 of Netlist’s ’035 memory‑module patent unpatentable as obvious over Osanai and Tokuhiro, while claims 2, 6, and 22 remained valid.

patent denied · Oct 1, 2024

Micron Technology, Inc. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2024-00370

The PTAB denied Micron's request for rehearing of its petition to institute an IPR against Netlist's memory‑controller patent, finding that Micron introduced arguments not present in the original petition.

patent instituted · Oct 1, 2024

Micron Technology, Inc. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2024-00370

The PTAB instituted an inter‑partes review of Netlist’s ’608 memory‑module patent on claims 1‑5 after Samsung’s petition showed a reasonable likelihood of unpatentability under obviousness.

patent denied · Oct 1, 2024

Micron Technology, Inc. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2024-00370

Micron’s petition to invalidate Netlist’s memory‑module patent was denied by the PTAB because the petitioner could not demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of success on any of the five challenged claims.

patent denied · Oct 1, 2024

Micron Technology, Inc. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2024-00370

The PTAB denied Micron's petition to join the Samsung IPR, ruling that the challenges were substantively identical to existing filings. The Board applied General Plastic factors, finding no reasonable likelihood of prevailing and denying institution based on prior filing history and potential road-mapping concerns.

patent instituted · Sep 8, 2024

Charter Communications, Inc. v.Iarnach Technologies Limited

· IPR2024-01287

The PTAB instituted the IPR for Charter Communications against Iarnach Technologies, finding sufficient evidence that claims of Patent No. 9287982 are obvious over various prior art references (Bernstein, Tsuge, MEF 6.1). The Board addressed numerous claim construction issues, confirming some preambles were limiting while others were not.

patent denied · Sep 8, 2024

Charter Communications, Inc. v.Iarnach Technologies Limited

· IPR2024-01286

Charter Communications, Inc. failed to invalidate 13 claims covering Passive Optical Networks (PON) and multicast encryption technologies before the PTAB. The Board denied institution based on insufficient evidence showing obviousness over prior art including RFCs and Murakami.

patent final · Aug 30, 2024

Cholla Energy LLC et al. v.LANCIUM LLC

· IPR2024-01361

The Board found all 16 challenged claims unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103 based on combinations of prior art references. The Petitioner successfully demonstrated that the subject matter was taught or suggested by combining Kiani, Pelio, Chapel, Belady, and Forestiero for various limitations. This final decision confirms the invalidity of the patent claims in the area of power management for datacenters.

patent terminated or settled · Aug 14, 2024

Anker Innovations Ltd. v.Powermat Technologies Ltd.

· IPR2024-00995

Anker Innovations and Powermat Technologies settled their wireless‑charging patent dispute in IPR2024‑00995. The Board terminated the proceeding and ordered the settlement agreement to be kept confidential.

patent all challenged claims unpatentable · Aug 10, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00001

The PTAB held that Samsung’s challenge to Netlist’s ’595 memory‑module patent succeeded; all 24 claims were found obvious over a combination of prior‑art references and thus unpatentable.

patent instituted · Aug 10, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00001

The PTAB instituted an IPR against Netlist’s ’218 memory‑module patent after finding Samsung’s petition showed a reasonable likelihood of success on at least one claim.

patent instituted · Aug 10, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00001

The PTAB instituted an inter partes review of Netlist’s ’595 memory‑module patent after finding Samsung’s petition showed a reasonable likelihood of unpatentability for all 24 claims. The Board declined to exercise discretionary denial under §§ 314(a) and 325(d).

patent all challenged claims unpatentable · Aug 10, 2024

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Netlist, Inc.

· IPR2025-00001

Samsung successfully challenged Netlist’s 9,858,218 patent covering memory‑module handshaking. The PTAB found all 22 claims obvious over prior‑art combinations of Hazelzet and Buchmann. The decision also rejected the parties’ proposed claim constructions.

patent instituted · Aug 5, 2024

Ericsson Inc. et al. v.XR COMMUNICATIONS LLC

· IPR2024-00868

The PTAB instituted trial in an IPR proceeding concerning MIMO/Beamforming antenna technology. The Board found sufficient evidence to suggest that several challenged claims are unpatentable over the prior art, specifically Trigui and Rudrapatna. This decision moves the dispute forward toward a full evidentiary hearing on obviousness grounds.

patent final · Aug 5, 2024

Ericsson Inc. et al. v.XR COMMUNICATIONS LLC

· IPR2024-00868

The PTAB issued a Final Written Decision finding all 17 challenged claims unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). The Board determined that the prior art reference Trigui disclosed sufficient elements, rendering the claimed MIMO/Beamforming technology obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA).

patent all challenged claims unpatentable · Jun 28, 2024

Aylo Freesites Ltd et al. v.WellcomeMat, LLC

· IPR2024-01101

The PTAB held that claims 13–15 and 17–20 of U.S. Patent 8,307,286 are unpatentable after finding the petitioner’s prior‑art references anticipate or render the claims obvious. The decision resolves the consolidated IPRs and denies the patent owner’s motions.

patent instituted · Jun 28, 2024

Aylo Freesites Ltd et al. v.WellcomeMat, LLC

· IPR2024-01101

Aylo Freesites successfully obtained institution of an IPR against WellcomeMat’s 8,307,286 patent covering video cue‑point editing for real‑estate marketing, with the Board finding a reasonable likelihood of unpatentability and rejecting discretionary‑denial arguments.

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