Samsung Electronics America, Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
settled- Docket:
- IPR2023-00163
- Court:
- PTAB
- Filed:
- 2022-11-07
Patents:7386455
Samsung petitioned for inter partes review of the '455 patent. The proceeding was terminated as a settlement.
Defendant
Parus Holdings, Inc.
15 cases as defendant.
- Cases
- 15
- Active
- 0
- 15 closed
- Filed
- 2020–2022
- Top venue
- PTAB
- 4 cases
Also appears as a plaintiff in 14 cases → View as plaintiff
Company profile
Parus Holdings, Inc. is a privately held, venture-backed company founded in 1997 and headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois (a Chicago suburb). It has no public ticker and no disclosed parent. Public sources do not give confirmed size figures; third-party trackers estimate roughly 8–20 employees and revenue in the low-to-mid single-digit millions, but these are unverified estimates. Chairman and CEO Taj Reneau has led the company through its recent litigation campaigns.
Parus describes itself as a provider of voice-enabled unified communications and voice-assistant solutions, marketing brands including Webley, WebleyMD, ScreenSight, Parus Interactive, and CommuniKate, and claimed over 50,000 business customers in 2021 press materials. Its asserted patents center on voice browsing and voice-activated device control — e.g., U.S. Patent Nos. 6,721,705; 7,386,455; 7,881,941; 8,185,402; 7,516,190; and 9,769,314.
Litigation posture. Of the nine tracked appearances, five are as plaintiff and four are as defendant — but the "defendant" matters are Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews and a Federal Circuit appeal in which Parus defends its own patents as patent owner. The practical posture is that of an assertion-focused entity: Parus has serially sued Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, and LG over virtual-assistant features (Siri, Google Assistant, Bixby, Cortana, Alexa), and previously sued banks (Bank of America, Capital One, Charles Schwab, Fidelity). Cases clustered heavily in the Western District of Texas (Waco, before Judge Albright), plus the Northern District of California and Delaware. RPX tracks its campaigns, and Stanford's NPE Litigation Database lists Parus as a patent asserter.
Notable context. The defendants collectively filed 16 IPR petitions between 2021 and 2022. PTAB and Federal Circuit rulings went against Parus in several matters: claims of the '431 and '084 patents were cancelled (affirmed on appeal in 2023), and the '402 patent was found invalid under § 101 (affirmed in 2025). The most recent tracked case is Parus v. Amazon.com (D. Del., 2023). In October 2025, Parus separately sued its former counsel Mintz Levin for legal malpractice over the handling of its patent cases against Apple, Google, and Amazon.
Filing activity
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
settled/terminated before institution- Docket:
- IPR2023-00162
- Filed:
- 2022-11-06
- Terminated:
- 2023-03-06
Patents:6721705
Samsung petitioned for inter partes review of the '705 patent; the proceeding terminated before an institution decision due to settlement.
Apple Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
terminated - settled- Docket:
- IPR2022-01542
- Filed:
- 2022-09-16
- Terminated:
- 2023-03-06
Patents:7516190
IPR challenging all claims 1-21 of the '190 patent. The Board issued a decision on settlement prior to institution of trial on March 6, 2023 and terminated the proceeding after a joint motion to terminate.
Apple Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
institution denied; settlement- Docket:
- IPR2022-00950
- Filed:
- 2022-05-05
- Terminated:
- 2022-12-06
Patents:6721705
Apple petitioned for inter partes review of the '705 patent; institution was denied on December 6, 2022, and Google Patents metadata lists the status as settlement.
Google LLC v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
Final Written Decision issued- Docket:
- IPR2022-00805
- Filed:
- 2022-04-04
- Terminated:
- 2023-11-06
Patents:9769314
Google petitioned for inter partes review of all claims 1–26 of U.S. Patent 9,769,314. The PTAB instituted review on 11/07/2022 and issued a final written decision on 11/06/2023; Parus's appeal was voluntarily dismissed, leaving the Board's decision final.
Google LLC v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
final written decision; claims 1-16 unpatentable; appealed to Federal Circuit- Docket:
- IPR2022-00358
- Filed:
- 2022-01-21
- Terminated:
- 2023-08-01
Patents:7881941
Google petitioned for inter partes review of claims 1-16 of the '941 patent. The Board instituted review on August 4, 2022, and issued a Final Written Decision on August 1, 2023, finding the challenged claims unpatentable. Google appealed to the Federal Circuit.
Google LLC v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
not instituted- Docket:
- IPR2022-00355
- Court:
- PTAB
- Filed:
- 2022-01-07
Patents:7386455
Google petitioned for inter partes review of the '455 patent. The PTAB denied institution on July 18, 2022.
Microsoft Corp. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
institution denied- Docket:
- IPR2022-00137
- Filed:
- 2021-11-09
- Terminated:
- 2022-05-11
Patents:6721705
Microsoft petitioned for inter partes review of the '705 patent; the PTAB denied institution on the merits.
Google LLC et al. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
final written decision; '431 claims unpatentable- Docket:
- IPR2020-00846
- Filed:
- 2020-04-18
- Terminated:
- 2021-10-19
Patents:7076431
π Google LLCπ Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.π Samsung Electronics America, Inc.π LG Electronics Inc.π LG Electronics USA, Inc.Δ Parus Holdings, Inc.
Petitioners filed an inter partes review of U.S. Patent 7,076,431 against Parus. The PTAB held claims 1, 2, 4–7, 10, 13, and 14 unpatentable in a final written decision on Oct. 19, 2021.
Google LLC et al. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
final written decision; claims unpatentable- Docket:
- IPR2020-00847
- Filed:
- 2020-04-18
- Terminated:
- 2021-10-19
Patents:9451084
Google LLC (with Samsung and LG) petitioned for inter partes review of the '084 patent. The PTAB held claims 1, 2, 4–7, 10, and 14 unpatentable as obvious.
Apple Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
final written decision- Docket:
- IPR2020-00686
- Filed:
- 2020-03-18
- Terminated:
- 2021-09-09
Patents:7076431
Apple filed an inter partes review of U.S. Patent 7,076,431 against Parus. The PTAB issued a final written decision on Sept. 9, 2021.
Apple Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
final written decision; no claims unpatentable (per RPX; caveat)- Docket:
- IPR2020-00687
- Filed:
- 2020-03-18
- Terminated:
- 2021-09-09
Patents:9451084
Apple Inc. petitioned for inter partes review of the '084 patent. Final written decision recorded as 'No Claims Unpatentable' per RPX Insight, with a caveat that exact claim-by-claim disposition needs verification.
Google LLC v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
vacated and remanded- Docket:
- 24-2381
- Terminated:
- 2026-07-13
Patents:6721705
Appeal of the PTAB's Final Written Decision in IPR2022-00279. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded, finding APA errors in the Board's analysis and claim construction.
Google LLC v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
not instituted- Docket:
- IPR2022-01020
Patents:7516190
IPR challenging the '190 patent, marked 'Not Instituted - Merits' on Google Patents. A McKool Smith press release suggests the PTAB denied Google's requests to review Parus' U.S. Patents Nos. 7,386,455 and 7,516,190; petitioner identity is not directly confirmed from the docket.
Apple Inc. v. Parus Holdings, Inc.
settled- Docket:
- IPR2022-00948
Patents:9769314
Apple Inc. filed an IPR related to the 9,769,314 family; Google Patents litigation metadata lists this case against the '314 patent. The proceeding is marked settled per that metadata.