Defendant

Piper Networks, Inc.

4 cases as defendant.

Cases
4
Active
2
2 closed
Filed
2022–2025
Top venue
D. Delaware
2 cases
Also appears as a plaintiff in 2 cases → View as plaintiff

Company profile

I'll research this company before writing the profile.

Company overview. Piper Networks, Inc. is a private, venture-backed rail technology company founded in 2011 and headquartered at 3636 Nobel Drive, San Diego, California; it is a Delaware corporation with additional listed locations in New York, Texas, Georgia and Delaware. Founder and CEO is Robert Hanczor (Ph.D.). Ownership is private — no public ticker and no disclosed parent. Third-party aggregators (Crunchbase, Kona Equity, ZipRecruiter) place headcount in the roughly 11–50 band and revenue in the low single-digit millions, but these are unverified estimates; the company publishes no audited figures.

Products / operations. Piper describes itself as a rail engineering solutions provider and systems integrator, with five product lines: Vital Train Positioning, Maintenance of Way (MOW) Protection, Automatic Train Protection (ATP), Grade Crossing Safety, and Passenger Information Display Systems (PIDS). Its core technology is the Rail Positioning System (RPS), built on Ultra-Wideband radios, GPS-RTK, and TrackSight LiDAR positioning. Named deployments include Amtrak MOW vehicle protection (Limits Compliance and Collision Avoidance System), MTA New York countdown clocks and UWB signaling work, and a ~$113 million MBTA Green Line Train Protection System (GLTPS) contract awarded in February 2025. Piper is an operating company, not an NPE.

Patent-litigation posture. Two-way but predominantly defensive: four tracked cases as defendant and two as plaintiff/petitioner. Its "plaintiff" appearances are joint inter partes review petitions (with Siemens Mobility, Hitachi Rail GTS USA, and Humatics) against Metrom Rail's UWB/GPS collision-avoidance patents. Its defendant appearances are Metrom Rail infringement suits. Venues are D. Mass., S.D.N.Y., and D. Del. — not the Eastern District of Texas.

Notable cases. Metrom Rail, LLC v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority et al. (D. Mass. 2025) alleges Piper's RPS/ATP-O/GLTPS infringes Metrom's patents; the court transferred the claims against Piper to S.D.N.Y. and severed/stayed the MBTA claims. Related: Metrom Rail v. Siemens Mobility et al. (D. Del. 2022) and Metrom Rail v. Ground Transportation Systems USA / Hitachi Rail GTS USA (D. Del. 2023). Metrom itself sells the AURA CAS collision-avoidance product, so these are competitor-versus-competitor disputes rather than NPE assertions.

Filing activity

2022: 1 case1'222023: 1 case'23'242025: 1 case'25
Cases filed per year naming Piper Networks, Inc. as defendant.

Metrom Rail, LLC v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority et al.

transferred
Docket:
1:25-cv-11446
Filed:
2025-05-21
Patents:90431319731738
π Metrom Rail, LLCΔ Massachusetts Bay Transportation AuthorityΔ Piper Networks, Inc.

Patent infringement action against MBTA and Piper Networks concerning Piper's Rail Positioning System, ATP-O, and GLTPS. The court granted Piper's motion to dismiss or transfer for improper venue under TC Heartland, granted MBTA's motion to sever and stay, denied Metrom's motions for preliminary injunction and expedited discovery without prejudice, and denied MBTA's motion to dismiss with leave to renew. The case as to Piper was transferred to S.D.N.Y.

Metrom Rail, LLC v. Ground Transportation Systems USA Inc. (subsequently Hitachi Rail GTS USA Inc.) et al.

pending/unknown
Docket:
1:23-cv-00314
Filed:
2023-03-22
Patents:90431318812227101795951073770910778363
π Metrom Rail, LLCΔ Ground Transportation Systems USA Inc. (subsequently Hitachi Rail GTS USA Inc.)Δ Piper Networks, Inc.

Patent infringement action in D. Del. against Ground Transportation Systems USA (later Hitachi Rail GTS USA) and Piper Networks. The narrative could not confirm a disposition; related '131 litigation substantially migrated to S.D.N.Y.

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

closed
Docket:
1:22-cv-00049-RGA
Filed:
2022-01-13
Terminated:
2023-04-11
Patents:88122271077836390431311073770910179595
π Metrom Rail, LLCΔ Siemens Mobility, Inc.Δ Thales Transport & Security, Inc.Δ Thales USA, Inc.Δ Humatics Corp.Δ Piper Networks, Inc.

Metrom Rail asserted the '227 patent and four related patents against Siemens Mobility, Thales entities, Humatics, and Piper Networks. The court granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss, severed the case into defendant groups, and closed the Delaware action; severed patent claims continued in the Southern District of New York.

Metrom Rail, LLC v. Ground Transportation Systems USA, Inc. et al.

pending/stayed
Docket:
1:23-cv-02920
Patents:8812227101795951073770910778363
π Metrom Rail, LLCΔ Ground Transportation Systems USA, Inc.Δ Piper Networks, Inc.

Metrom Rail's parallel action against Ground Transportation Systems USA and Piper Networks, resulting from the transfer/severance of the original Delaware action. It was pending at the time of the June 18, 2024 PTAB decision and is subject to the same IPR-driven stay dynamics.