Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc.

Stingray IP Solutions LLC, a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) and an entity of Acacia Research Corporation focused on monetizing wireless networking intellectual property, initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Vivion Inc.. Vivion Inc. is an operating company and a prominent ingredients distributor for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and other industries, founded in 1957 and operating as a brand of Operio Group. The lawsuit, filed on October 24, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Case No. 2:23-cv-00499), asserts US Patent 6,980,537. While the specific accused product or service offered by Vivion Inc. is not detailed in publicly available summaries of the complaint, given Stingray's portfolio, it is highly probable the infringement allegations relate to Vivion's use of wireless networking technology within its operations, such as in its distribution or logistics systems.

The asserted patent, U.S. Patent 6,980,537, titled "System and method for supporting wireless ad hoc network services," generally describes techniques for managing and supporting services within a mobile ad hoc network (MANET). The procedural posture of the case is notable as it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a venue historically known as a "patent litigation capital" and a plaintiff-friendly forum, favored for its reputation for fast trials and significant jury verdicts. Although its dominance has fluctuated, EDTX has seen a resurgence in patent filings, becoming the top patent hotspot in 2023. While a specific judge for this case is not readily identified in the immediate search results, many patent cases in this district are presided over by experienced patent judges.

The case status indicates a rapid resolution: it was filed and subsequently closed on the same day, October 24, 2023, according to Unified Patents. This quick closure often signals a pre-suit settlement, a very swift voluntary dismissal by the plaintiff, or a non-substantive filing that was promptly resolved. This pattern of rapid assertion and withdrawal is sometimes observed with NPEs. Stingray IP Solutions LLC's affiliation with Acacia Research Corporation, a well-known patent monetizer, underscores the case's notability as part of a broader NPE assertion strategy in the high-tech sector. There is no information in the available search results to suggest any parallel PTAB IPR proceedings related to U.S. Patent 6,980,537.

Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc.: Patent Infringement Litigation Update

Stingray IP Solutions LLC initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Vivion Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on October 24, 2023, under case number 2:23-cv-00499. The sole patent asserted in this litigation is U.S. Patent 6,980,537.

As of May 30, 2026, detailed public docket information outlining the chronological legal developments of this case, such as specific filing dates for answers, counterclaims, substantive pre-trial motions (e.g., motions to dismiss, transfer, or stay), claim construction (Markman) outcomes, significant discovery milestones, or any trial events, verdict, or post-trial motions, is not readily available through general web searches of legal news outlets, court opinions, or public docket aggregators.

Furthermore, searches for parallel proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the USPTO (including Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) or Post-Grant Reviews (PGRs)) concerning U.S. Patent 6,980,537 did not yield any active or concluded cases. The USPTO's P-TACTS system and other public PTAB search tools did not return results for the specified patent number.

Given the limited public availability of specific docket entries and a lack of reporting by legal news sources, a comprehensive chronological list of legal developments and the ultimate outcome for Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc. cannot be provided at this time without direct access to the court's electronic filing system (PACER). The present posture of the case remains active based on the initial filing status.

Clarification on Case Information: Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc.

A review of the docket and case information reveals a discrepancy in the provided case number. The case "Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc." is actually identified as 2:23-cv-00503 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, not 2:23-cv-00499. Case number 2:23-cv-00499 involves Stingray IP Solutions LLC against Leedarson IOT Technology Inc. and others. Both cases, 2:23-cv-00499 and 2:23-cv-00503, are listed as "Closed".

Based on Stingray IP Solutions LLC's frequent litigation in the Eastern District of Texas and common patterns of representation, the following attorneys and firms are highly likely to have represented the plaintiff in Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc. (2:23-cv-00503), drawing from counsel identified in other similar Stingray cases in the same court:

Counsel for Plaintiff Stingray IP Solutions LLC

• Jeffrey Ray Bragalone

  • Role: Likely Lead Counsel
  • Firm: Bragalone Olejko Saad PC, Dallas, TX
  • Experience Note: Mr. Bragalone is a shareholder at Bragalone Olejko Saad PC, a firm that focuses on high-stakes intellectual property matters, including patent litigation. He has extensive experience as lead attorney in patent infringement cases, particularly in the Eastern District of Texas, and has familiarity with wireless telecommunications patents.

• Terry Afif Saad

  • Role: Likely Lead Counsel
  • Firm: Bragalone Olejko Saad PC, Dallas, TX
  • Experience Note: Mr. Saad is a shareholder at Bragalone Olejko Saad PC, focusing on patent litigation, post-grant patent proceedings, and general intellectual property matters. He is a registered patent attorney with a background as an electrical engineer in the telecommunications and defense industries, and has represented patent owners in asserting wireless telecommunications patents.

• J. Wesley Hill

  • Role: Likely Local Counsel / Lead Counsel
  • Firm: J. Wesley Hill, P.C. (formerly a name partner at Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC), Tyler, TX
  • Experience Note: Mr. Hill is an experienced trial lawyer in the Eastern District of Texas, specializing in patent infringement, intellectual property, and other business litigation. He has been counsel of record in over 1100 cases in Texas state and federal courts and is board certified in civil trial law.

• Melissa Richards Smith

  • Role: Likely Local Counsel
  • Firm: Gillam & Smith, L.L.P., Marshall, TX
  • Experience Note: Ms. Smith is a partner at Gillam & Smith and an accomplished trial lawyer who frequently appears in federal courts in the Eastern District of Texas. She has served as local counsel for visiting lawyers in thousands of patent cases and has been recognized as a "go-to" lawyer by Fortune 500 companies in intellectual property matters.

• Johnny Ward

  • Role: Likely Local Counsel (formerly)
  • Firm: Ward ADR (formerly a founding partner at Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC), Longview, TX
  • Experience Note: Mr. Ward is a highly experienced trial lawyer, having appeared as an attorney of record in over 500 patent infringement cases and tried close to 60 cases to a jury verdict. He has since transitioned to mediation and ADR services.

It is important to note that while these attorneys and firms have a strong history of representing Stingray IP Solutions LLC in patent infringement cases within the Eastern District of Texas, and in some instances, specifically Vivion Inc. was mentioned as a defendant in a separate Stingray case, the precise counsel of record for the closed 2:23-cv-00503 case could not be definitively extracted from public web searches without direct PACER access to that specific docket. The attorneys listed represent a high probability based on Stingray's consistent legal representation strategy in this district.

I'll research the defendant's counsel through multiple targeted searches.

The results reveal a significant naming discrepancy I need to run down. Let me dig deeper.

Now I've found a critical issue. Let me verify whether a "Vivion" case actually exists and confirm the counsel details.

Bottom line first — and a required contradiction flag

*I could not find any docketed case captioned Stingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc., and no Stingray complaint asserting U.S. Patent 6,980,537 against a "Vivion" defendant.* The defendant-counsel information below therefore comes with an explicit conflict notice, as required:

Contradictions with the case metadata (flagged, not resolved silently):

The likely source of the "Vivion" spelling is an AI-generated litigation blog page at PatSnap ("Stingray IP Solutions v. Vivion: Zigbee Patent Dismissal"), which describes the defendant as "a provider of smart home wireless products including Zigbee-enabled devices" — plainly Vivint's business — and reproduces an order whose verbatim text refers to Leedarson and Case No. 2:23-cv-00499-JRG-RSP. That page should not be relied on for party names. Per your operating rules I treat the caption metadata as authoritative for naming, but the underlying docket reality is as stated above, and the counsel of record can only be identified from the real docket.

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Counsel of record for the defense (as actually docketed in the Stingray Oct. 2023 EDTX campaign)

A. For Vivint, Inc. — lead case 2:23-cv-00503-JRG-RSP (the case whose consolidated docket would contain any "Vivion" filing)

Defense firms of record for Vivint: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (national trial counsel) and Mann, Tindel & Thompson (East Texas local counsel). The full photo appears on the Dec. 20–21, 2023 docket entries (Dkts. 18–21); Dkt. 19 (the Original Answer) is the document that formally lists all counsel of record.

B. For the Leedarson defendants — member case 2:23-cv-00499 (the case number in your metadata)

Because your metadata's case number points here, the defense side in that member case is:

No in-house counsel appeared on either docket in the records retrieved.

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What I could not verify (stated explicitly, no invention)

• No "Vivion, Inc." appearance, answer, or counsel is docketed in any Stingray EDTX case that I could locate. If a genuinely separate Stingray v. Vivion action exists, its complaint and appearances are not indexed by Justia, PACER Monitor, DocketBird, UniCourt, RPX, or the Stanford NPE database as of this search — direct PACER access to the specific docket would be required.
• Office locations for David A. Nelson and Brianne M. Straka (Quinn Emanuel) were not confirmable from the sources retrieved; I am not asserting a specific city.
• The SB IP Holdings v. Vivion Federal Circuit page (PatSnap) also pairs "Vivion" with David A. Nelson/Quinn Emanuel and describes a smart-home communication-and-monitoring patent — the same signature as the SB IP Holdings v. Vivint line of cases. I could not verify that page before running out of search steps, and it likely repeats the same Vivint/Vivion conflation. Treat it as unconfirmed.
• Vivion, Inc. (the ingredient distributor / Operio Group brand) is a real operating company, but I found no evidence it was ever a Stingray IP Solutions defendant; the case-overview section's inference that the suit concerned "wireless networking technology within its operations" is unsupported and appears to be a byproduct of the same name confusion.

Case outcome (for context)

The lead case closed on March 24, 2025: a joint motion to dismiss with prejudice (Dkt. 64 in 2:23-cv-00503), granted by Judge Gilstrap (order signed 3/23/2025), with each party bearing its own costs and fees, followed by the AO-120 termination notice. The contemporaneous PTAB-side development is the CRU reexamination of U.S. 7,224,678, where the Examiner maintained rejections of all challenged claims (Advisory Action, Feb. 5, 2026, per Unified Patents), with '678 having been asserted against Leedarson, Schlage Lock, HPE, Vivint, and Allegion — further confirming "Vivint," not "Vivion," is the Stingray target.

Recommended next step: pull the PACER docket for 2:23-cv-00503-JRG-RSP (Dkts. 10, 18–21 and the Dkt. 64 joint motion) to confirm the complete and current counsel list, since the free aggregators' dockets for these cases are last-updated only through Dec. 2023–May 2026.