Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC — commonly known as Corning Gilbert — is the coaxial/RF connectivity business of Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW), headquartered at 5310 W. Camelback Road, Glendale, Arizona. It is a wholly owned subsidiary and is not separately traded or reported, so Corning does not disclose subsidiary-level revenue or headcount; third-party directories (D&B) list roughly 85 employees and about $41 million in revenue, which is unverified. The business traces to Gilbert Engineering Co., a Phoenix-area coaxial connector maker owned by Oak Industries, which Corning acquired in the ~$1.8 billion merger announced in November 1999 and closed in 2000. The entity was renamed Corning Gilbert Inc., then Corning Gilbert LLC, then Corning Optical Communications RF LLC.
Products/operations: It designs and manufactures coaxial and RF connectors and related interconnect hardware for broadband/CATV, telecom, wireless, military, satellite and test applications. Offerings include 75-ohm F-type compression connectors (UltraSeal, UltraRange, UltraShield series), hardline trunk-and-distribution connectors, adapters, cable assemblies, RF terminators and surge-protected terminators, blind-mate/board-to-board and PCB connectors, and subminiature microwave push-on interconnects (GPO, GPPO, G3PO) rated into the 40–65 GHz range. Manufacturing has been centered in Glendale/Phoenix, Arizona, with European operations in Denmark and France historically. Recent filings also cover coaxial switches and distributed-RAN/DAS components.
Litigation posture: Corning RF is an operating company, not an NPE, and a two-way litigant — but all six tracked matters stem from a single long-running dispute with PPC Broadband, Inc. (John Mezzalingua Associates; now a Belden brand). As plaintiff, Corning filed four PTAB inter partes review petitions (2013 and 2016) against PPC connector patents. As defendant, it faced PPC's infringement suits in the Northern District of New York (PPC's home district) and the resulting Federal Circuit appeal. None of the tracked cases are in the Eastern District of Texas.
Notable cases: In PPC Broadband v. Corning Optical Communications RF (N.D.N.Y.), a 2015 jury found willful infringement of U.S. Patents 6,558,194 and 6,848,940 by UltraRange/UltraShield connectors; the ~$23.9 million award was upheld and then doubled on enhancement, with judgment later reported near $61 million. PPC's 2014 complaint also asserted U.S. 8,647,136, and there was an ITC action (Inv. No. 337-TA-938). Corning's IPRs included IPR2013-00340/342/343/345/346/347 and IPR2014-00440/441/736; IPR2014-00440 was designated precedential in 2025 on real-party-in-interest disclosure. The parties announced a technical collaboration resolving the disputes in August 2016.