Defendant

Metrom Rail, LLC

2 cases as defendant.

Cases
2
Active
0
2 closed
Filed
2023
Top venue
PTAB
1 case
Also appears as a plaintiff in 4 cases → View as plaintiff

Company profile

I'll research this company before writing the profile.

Metrom Rail, LLC is a privately held railroad technology company based at 1125 Mitchell Ct., Crystal Lake, Illinois, with earlier offices in Lakemoor, IL. It was founded in 2010 (Illinois LLC registration November 16, 2010) and is managed by CEO Jim Marchi; no parent or public ticker is disclosed. Third-party data aggregators estimate roughly 20–25 employees and revenue in the $5–10 million range (Kona Equity, Salary.com, ZoomInfo), but no audited figure or company confirmation is available, so treat these as unverified estimates.

Products / operations. Metrom develops and sells ultra-wideband (UWB)-based railway safety, signaling, and train-control equipment to freight and transit railroads. Its principal line is the AURA System, which includes the AURA collision-avoidance system for maintenance-of-way vehicles, the AURA train-control product, and roadway-worker protection systems; the related CERTIS train-localization product provides UWB-based positioning. The company also supplies communications towers and related integration services. It is an operating company with commercial deployments, not a shell licensor: its 2022 press release described deployments on "thousands of railway maintenance-of-way vehicles."

Litigation posture. Metrom is an active two-way litigant. The tracked data show 4 cases as plaintiff and 2 as defendant — the latter being PTAB inter partes reviews, not district-court suits. It asserts its own developed patent portfolio (reported as 8 issued U.S. patents in 2022; databases list roughly 40–50 filings). Suits are in the District of Delaware, S.D.N.Y., and D. Massachusetts — not the Eastern District of Texas.

Notable cases. Metrom Rail v. Siemens Mobility, Thales, Humatics, and Piper Networks (D. Del., Jan. 2022) concerned UWB technology tied to MTA New York City Transit signal modernization. Defendants petitioned for IPR on U.S. Patents 9,043,131 and 8,812,227; the PTAB found the claims obvious, and the Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part on May 11, 2026 (No. 24-2223), invalidating claims 17–20 as well. Metrom also sued Ground Transportation Systems USA (now Hitachi Rail GTS USA) in Delaware (2023) and the MBTA and Piper in Massachusetts (May 2025) over the MBTA Green Line Train Protection System procurement.

Siemens Mobility, Inc. et al. v. Metrom Rail, LLC

Final Written Decision - appealed
Docket:
IPR2023-00470
Filed:
2023-01-13
Terminated:
2024-06-18
Patents:8812227
π Siemens Mobility, Inc.π Ground Transportation Systems USA Inc.π Humatics Corp.π Piper Networks, Inc.π Thales USA, Inc.Δ Metrom Rail, LLC

Inter partes review petition filed by Siemens Mobility, Ground Transportation Systems USA, Humatics, and Piper Networks against Metrom Rail's '227 patent. The Board's June 18, 2024 Final Written Decision held claims 1-28 of the '227 patent unpatentable as obvious; the decision was appealed.

Siemens Mobility, Inc. et al. v. Metrom Rail, LLC

final written decision; on appeal
Docket:
IPR2023-00468
Filed:
2023-01-13
Terminated:
2024-06-18
Patents:9043131
π Siemens Mobility, Inc.π Ground Transportation Systems USA, Inc. (now Hitachi Rail GTS USA Inc.)π Humatics Corp.π Piper Networks, Inc.Δ Metrom Rail, LLC

Inter partes review of U.S. 9,043,131. The Board instituted on all challenged claims 1-20 and found claims 1-16 unpatentable as obvious, while claims 17-20 were not shown unpatentable. This proceeding was appealed and addressed in Federal Circuit Case No. 24-2223.