Litigation summary

As a patent attorney analyzing US patent 5490216, I have compiled a summary of its extensive litigation history. The data confirms a widespread assertion campaign by Uniloc entities, primarily between 2009 and 2014, which was effectively halted by the successful invalidation of all patent claims at the PTAB.

Litigation Summary

US patent 5490216 has been the subject of more than 75 infringement lawsuits, making it one of the most heavily litigated patents of its era. The plaintiff in these actions was consistently a Uniloc entity (Uniloc USA, Inc. or Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.). The campaign began with a notable suit against Microsoft in 2003, but the vast majority of cases were filed between 2010 and 2014, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas serving as the primary venue.

The defendants comprise a broad cross-section of the technology and software industries, with a particular focus on video game publishers, security software companies, and other major software developers. The campaign effectively ended following the institution of inter partes reviews that ultimately led to the cancellation of all claims of the patent, rendering it unenforceable. Consequently, most pending cases were dismissed between 2015 and 2017.

Notable Litigation Cases

Below is a representative list of key lawsuits involving US patent 5490216. Given the high volume of litigation, this list is not exhaustive but highlights the most significant and exemplary cases.

Plaintiff(s)	Defendant(s)	Jurisdiction	Case Number	Filing Date	Outcome / Status
Uniloc USA, Inc.	Microsoft Corporation	Rhode Island District Court	1:03-cv-00440	2003-09-29	After a lengthy legal battle including a $388M jury verdict for Uniloc, the infringement judgment was ultimately vacated by the Federal Circuit in 2012.
Uniloc USA, Inc.	Symantec Corp., Trend Micro Inc.	California Central District Court	8:08-cv-00203	2008-02-19	Terminated/Dismissed (2010-09-15), likely due to settlement.
Uniloc USA, Inc.	McAfee, Inc.	Texas Eastern District Court	6:09-cv-00538	2009-11-19	Terminated/Dismissed (2011-04-12), likely due to settlement.
Uniloc USA, Inc.	Ubisoft, Inc.	Texas Eastern District Court	6:10-cv-00069	2010-02-12	Dismissed (2016-12-07). Ubisoft was the successful petitioner in IPR2015-01026, which invalidated all claims of the '216 patent.
Uniloc USA, Inc.	Electronic Arts Inc.	Texas Eastern District Court	6:10-cv-00373	2010-07-26	Dismissed (2015-05-18). Electronic Arts was the petitioner in the unsuccessful IPR2015-00178.
Uniloc USA, Inc.	Sega of America, Inc.	Texas Eastern District Court	6:10-cv-00471	2010-09-20	Dismissed (2016-08-01). Sega was the lead petitioner in the successful IPR2014-01453.
Uniloc USA, Inc.	Adobe Systems Inc.	Texas Eastern District Court	6:10-cv-00591	2010-11-12	Terminated/Dismissed (2012-08-02), likely due to settlement.
Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.	Mojang AB (Minecraft)	Texas Eastern District Court	6:12-cv-01013	2012-07-20	Dismissed (2016-10-14).
Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.	Valve Corporation	Texas Eastern District Court	6:13-cv-00259	2013-04-10	Dismissed (2016-10-14).
Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.	Twitter, Inc.	Texas Eastern District Court	6:13-cv-00629	2013-08-06	Terminated/Dismissed (2015-02-23).

The litigation data, accessible via resources like Unified Patents Portal (e.g., case lists for Texas Eastern or Rhode Island), demonstrates a clear pattern. A massive wave of lawsuits was filed, followed by PTAB challenges from defendants like Sega and Ubisoft. Once those PTAB challenges proved successful and the claims were canceled, the associated district court litigation was dismissed, effectively ending the assertion campaign for this patent.