Mobile Tech, Inc. d/b/a Mobile Technologies Inc. ("MTI") — formerly Merchandising Technologies Inc. — is a privately held, private-equity-backed manufacturer headquartered at 1050 NW 229th Ave., Hillsboro, Oregon. PitchBook lists founding in 1977 (CB Insights says 1979) and its site markets "over 40 years" of operation. MTI was a portfolio company of Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company (HKW) from 2013 until August 2016, when HKW sold it to Vestar Capital Partners in partnership with management; Vestar still lists it as a portfolio company. PitchBook reports roughly 901 employees as of 2023 and about $12.5M raised; no public revenue or market-cap figure is available, and the company is not publicly traded.
Operations. MTI designs, assembles and services retail merchandising and loss-prevention systems for consumer electronics — mechanical and electronic security stands, retractable alarming power cords, tethers, smart locks and device power/display fixtures used by retailers and OEMs to showcase tablets, smartphones, cameras and laptops. It also provides installation, preventive maintenance and break-fix field services, and acquired tablet-enclosure maker ArmorActive in 2014. Product names appearing in litigation include Freedom Micro, Round Freedom Micro, Freedom Micro DI, Freedom Axis, Freedom Maxx and AirTether. This is a genuine operating company, not an NPE.
Litigation posture. The tracked data shows 1 case, 0 as plaintiff and 1 as defendant: MTI is a defendant, sued in its home venue — the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division — by competitor InVue Security Products. This is competitor-versus-competitor patent litigation, not an NPE campaign, and it did not cluster in plaintiff-friendly venues such as the Eastern District of Texas. The broader dispute was two-way: MTI also petitioned for IPR/PGR review of several InVue patents at the PTAB (IPR2016-00892/896/898/899, IPR2017-00344/345, PGR2019-00019), and the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB in March 2019.
Notable case. InVue Security Products Inc. v. Mobile Tech, Inc. (D. Or., 3:19-cv-00407, filed 2019-03-18) asserted U.S. Patents 9,830,787 and 10,055,954 ("Merchandise Security System Including Retractable Alarming Power Cord") against MTI's Freedom Micro line; the court denied MTI's motion to dismiss in October 2019. Earlier related litigation (W.D.N.C. 3:15-cv-00610) and a Sennco trade-secret/patent dispute in the N.D. Illinois reflect a consistently contested retail-security IP landscape.