Alps Alpine North America, Inc.

Alps Alpine North America, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. (TSE: 6770; OTC: APELF), a Tokyo-headquartered Japanese public company formed in 2019 through the merger of Alps Electric and Alpine Electronics; the corporate lineage dates to 1948. The U.S. entity's registered headquarters is 3151 Jay Street, Santa Clara, California, with a functional/Detroit office at 1500 Atlantic Blvd., Auburn Hills, Michigan. Alps Alpine North America was incorporated in California with an original incorporation date of December 27, 1989, and re-registered under its current name in 2022. Parent-level figures (FY ending March 2026) are roughly ¥1.02 trillion in revenue and about 25,900 consolidated employees; reported market capitalization is in the low single-digit billions of dollars. These are parent-company figures; standalone U.S. subsidiary financials are not publicly disclosed.

Operations. Alps Alpine North America sells and supports the parent's three business segments: Components (switches, actuators, haptics, touch input panels, power inductors), Sensors and Communication (sensor and data-communication components/modules), and Modules and Systems/Mobility (in-vehicle infotainment, navigation, display and premium audio systems, electronic shifters, remote keyless entry, digital key systems). It is a Tier 1 automotive supplier, also serving consumer, mobile, gaming, and industrial markets.

Litigation posture. This is an operating company defending against a patent assertion, not an NPE. The tracked data shows 1 case, as defendant and 0 as plaintiff: Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. v. Alps Alpine North America, Inc. (W.D. Wash., No. 2:23-cv-00001), filed January 1, 2023.

Case context. Cedar Lane is a Canadian NPE incorporated in 2019 that asserts patents acquired from Intellectual Ventures and has filed hundreds of suits, predominantly in the Western District of Texas before Judge Alan Albright; most resolve by settlement. The Alps Alpine suit asserted U.S. Patents 6,972,790 and 8,537,242 ("Host interface for imaging arrays"). The case was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on March 24, 2023, each party bearing its own costs. The W.D. Wash. venue and single-defendant filing are atypical for Cedar Lane's broader campaign.