Defendant
1 case as defendant.
HBCU Messaging US LP is a Virginia-based limited partnership with a principal place of business in Virginia Beach. It is jointly owned by two holding companies, which are wholly owned subsidiaries of the HBCU Technology Foundation. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) to support technology programs and innovation at the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Formerly known as Rembrandt Messaging Technologies II, LP, the entity was renamed after its ownership was transferred from Rembrandt IP Management, LLC, a patent monetization firm, to the HBCU Technology Foundation's subsidiaries.
HBCU Messaging US LP is a non-practicing entity (NPE) that does not appear to have any products or commercial operations. Its business is the enforcement of a patent portfolio. The asserted patents relate to a "messaging system that can utilize either a short message service ('SMS') or packet switched message service ('PSMS')." These patents originated with an Australian entity, Messmo Technologies Pty. Ltd., which operated a mobile messaging platform from 2007 until it ceased commercial operations around 2009 or 2010. The patents were later assigned to Rembrandt entities in 2014 before being transferred to the current HBCU-affiliated entity.
The company's patent-litigation posture is that of a patent assertion entity. As indicated by the provided case list, HBCU Messaging has acted as a plaintiff in all of its district court cases, which have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a popular venue for patent litigation. Its one appearance as a defendant is in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), where the target of its lawsuits, Apple Inc., has challenged the validity of the asserted patents.
All of the company's tracked litigation involves lawsuits against Apple Inc. (and in one case, its partner Green Dot Corp.) over alleged infringement by Apple's Messages app and the Apple Cash service. HBCU Messaging asserts that Apple's products and services infringe on at least seven of its patents. This dispute has a lengthy history, including related litigation that began in Germany in 2015 between Apple and the plaintiff's predecessor, Rembrandt Messaging.
Apple Inc. filed an Inter Partes Review (IPR) petition challenging the validity of US 11,991,600. The PTAB has not yet decided whether to institute a trial. The outcome could significantly impact the related district court litigation.