Defendant

MetroPCS Wireless, Inc.

1 case as defendant.

Cases
1
Active
0
1 closed
Filed
2011
Top venue
E.D. Texas Tyler
1 case

Company profile

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MetroPCS Wireless, Inc. was a Delaware corporation headquartered in Richardson, Texas (Dallas area), and the principal operating subsidiary of MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS). The business was founded in 1994 as General Wireless, Inc. by Roger D. Linquist and Malcolm Lorang, and reorganized into the MetroPCS corporate structure. MetroPCS Wireless held the FCC licenses, network assets, and operating subsidiaries through which the MetroPCS prepaid service was delivered.

Products / services. MetroPCS was a facilities-based U.S. wireless carrier selling no-annual-contract, flat-rate prepaid voice, text, and data service, initially on CDMA and later adding LTE. As of June 30, 2012 it reported roughly 9.3 million subscribers and was described by Deutsche Telekom as the fifth-largest facilities-based U.S. wireless carrier. It was an operating company, not a patent-holding entity. Standalone revenue and headcount figures were not verified from the sources reviewed.

Ownership / corporate history. MetroPCS Communications, Inc. merged with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, Inc.; the transaction closed April 30–May 1, 2013. MetroPCS Communications was renamed T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS), Deutsche Telekom retained 74%, former MetroPCS holders received 26% plus ~$1.5 billion cash, and MetroPCS Wireless, Inc. was merged into T-Mobile USA, Inc. The MetroPCS prepaid brand continued, later rebranded Metro by T-Mobile.

Patent-litigation posture. The tracked data shows one case, in which MetroPCS Wireless is a defendant only (0 as plaintiff) — the profile of an operating company targeted by a patent holder rather than an asserter. Fenner Investments, Ltd. v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless et al., No. 6:11-cv-00348, was filed July 6, 2011 in the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, a historically plaintiff-friendly venue, before Judge Leonard Davis. Fenner — a patent-holding plaintiff that also asserted the same patent against Juniper Networks — accused MetroPCS Communications, MetroPCS Wireless, MetroPCS Texas, and Verizon Wireless of infringing claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 5,561,706 (PCS network access/billing system).

Outcome / context. The court adopted Verizon's narrower construction of "personal identification number"; a final judgment of non-infringement entered August 9, 2013, and the Federal Circuit affirmed on February 12, 2015. The suit predates the T-Mobile merger, and any successor exposure now sits with T-Mobile USA/T-Mobile US.

Fenner Investments, Ltd. v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless et al.

final judgment of non-infringement; appealed
Docket:
6:11-cv-00348
Filed:
2011-07-06
Terminated:
2013-08-09
Patents:5561706

Fenner asserted Claim 1 of the '706 patent. MetroPCS entities settled and were voluntarily dismissed; the court adopted Verizon's construction of 'personal identification number' and entered final judgment of non-infringement on August 9, 2013. Fenner appealed.