Defendant

PeopleNet Communications Corp.

1 case as defendant.

Cases
1
Active
0
1 closed
Filed
—
Top venue
E D Tex
1 case

Company profile

PeopleNet Communications Corp. — commonly "PeopleNet" — was founded in 1994 and headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It was a privately held provider of onboard computing and wireless fleet-communications systems, backed by Minneapolis private-equity firm Norwest Equity Partners before Trimble Navigation (now Trimble Inc., NASDAQ: TRMB, Westminster, CO) acquired it on August 5, 2011. PeopleNet is no longer a standalone brand: in September 2018 Trimble transitioned PeopleNet, TMW Systems and 10-4 Systems to the unified "Trimble Transportation" branding, with the legacy PeopleNet business operating as Trimble Transportation Mobility. The Minnesota operation had roughly 185 employees at the time of the acquisition and grew to nearly 800 under Trimble by 2017, per Star Tribune reporting. Trimble does not break out PeopleNet-specific revenue.

The business sells telematics and fleet-management hardware plus cloud software for commercial truck fleets in North America. Product lines included the g3 onboard computer and Mobile Gateway/Connected Gateway hubs; eDriver Logs (FMCSA-certified electronic logging device); PerformX driver/vehicle performance monitoring; Vehicle Management with J1708/J1939 and OBD-II engine connectivity; Tethered Trailer Tracking over Power Line Communication; PeopleNet Display.5 Android in-cab displays; Video Intelligence camera systems; PACOS geofencing; and the Fleet Manager back office, later superseded by Trimble's Instinct platform. Customers included truckload, LTL, private and service fleets such as Old Dominion Freight Line and Penske.

Litigation posture: PeopleNet is a pure operating company and a one-way defendant. In the tracked data it appears in a single case, as defendant, with zero plaintiff filings — the profile of a product company being sued rather than an assertion-driven entity.

Notable case: Innovative Global Systems, LLC v. PeopleNet Communications Corp., No. 6:11-cv-00497 (E.D. Tex.), filed September 2011. Innovative Global Systems asserted vehicle-to-remote-terminal data-communication patents against multiple telematics and fleet providers in the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas; the PeopleNet action was dismissed and resolved. PeopleNet itself is not characterized publicly as an NPE or patent aggressor.