Mobile Tech, Inc. (MTI)

Mobile Tech, Inc. (MTI) — legally Mobile Tech, Inc., doing business as Mobile Technologies, Inc. and MTI, and formerly identified in court filings as Merchandising Technologies Inc. — is a privately held manufacturer headquartered at Hillsboro, Oregon (Portland area), founded in 1977. It is not publicly traded. Vestar Capital Partners acquired the company in August 2016 through MTI Buyer, Inc., buying it from Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company, which had owned it since 2013. Patent-office filings also name ITM Holdings, LLC (formerly MTI Holdings, LLC) as a real party in interest. Size estimates from third-party data aggregators range from roughly 250 to 1,000 employees (most list 501–1,000); no audited revenue figure is publicly available, and aggregator revenue estimates vary widely and should not be relied on.

Operations. MTI makes retail loss-prevention and merchandising-security hardware and related software: alarmed display stands and "puck" mounts, retractable alarming power cords, smart locks and RFID cabinet locks, and managed access products. Its ArmorActive division builds tablet and kiosk enclosures for enterprise deployments. MTI also sells Global Services — field installation, preventive maintenance, a 24/7 contact center, and business-intelligence reporting — and states it serves customers in more than 90 countries, with offices in Hong Kong, Ireland, and London. It holds ISO 27001 certification. This is an operating company with real products and no patent-assertion business model.

Litigation posture. The case data show MTI as a defendant only (0 plaintiff appearances, 1 defendant appearance as tracked). It is a competitor being sued, not an NPE. The tracked suit, InVue Security Products Inc. v. Mobile Tech, Inc. (D. Or. 3:19-cv-00407, filed March 2019), was brought by rival InVue in MTI's home district — a notably neutral venue, not the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas — asserting U.S. Patents 9,830,787 and 10,055,954 ("Merchandise Security System Including Retractable Alarming Power Cord") against products including the Freedom Micro, Round Freedom Micro, Freedom Micro DI, and AirTether. The court denied MTI's motion to dismiss in October 2019.

Context. The dispute is part of a long-running, two-way patent war between MTI and InVue in district courts and the PTAB, including earlier W.D.N.C. litigation (3:15-cv-00610) and multiple MTI-filed IPR petitions against InVue patents. MTI's own patent portfolio (per company statements) covers product merchandising display systems.