OMNIVISION’s policy of refusal to pay non-practicing entities for meritless patent assertions results in another victory

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — December 21, 2023 — OMNIVISION today announced another litigation victory upon the dismissal of a campaign of frivolous lawsuits filed by non-practicing entity (“NPE”) Bell Semiconductor, LLC that began in August 2022. OMNIVISION paid no money to Bell Semiconductor to resolve the matter.

“OMNIVISION is pleased to set another example of OMNIVISION’S commitment to defend itself against groundless non-practicing entity lawsuits,” said Robert Cleary, General Counsel of OMNIVISION and former patent litigator. “Bell Semiconductor never had a good faith basis for bringing a lawsuit against OMNIVISION. Litigation tactics aimed at raising costs to prompt a nuisance fee settlement do not work against OMNIVISION.”

OMNIVISION invests its energy into exposing the lack of a viable patent infringement assertion by efficiently and aggressively defending itself using outside litigation counsel and in-house resources. Instead of paying the NPE to end the case, OMNIVISION is able to litigate to the point where the NPE’s case is exposed and beyond.

In this instance, Bell Semiconductor filed multiple separate lawsuits for the purpose of increasing litigation costs. That turned out to be a waste of filing fees, as the district court cases were all quickly consolidated for pre-trial purposes. Eventually, the district court cases were all stayed pending the outcome of a lawsuit with an upstream supplier, Siemens, relating to the same patents. In the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) investigation, three days before its expert infringement report would have been due, Bell Semi executed a license with upstream supplier Siemens and sought to dismiss the ITC investigation.

“We hope this sends a message to other NPEs, litigation finance companies, and their contingency law firms. OMNIVISION will not negotiate or pay nuisance fees,” said Mr. Cleary. Defending itself against baseless NPE lawsuits is an investment for OMNIVISION. Having shown that OMNIVISION will not be bullied by baseless threats, NPEs are significantly less likely to file suit against OMNIVISION.

OMNIVISION’s latest decisive NPE victory comes after nine months of litigation in the district courts and the ITC. The litigation was led by David Bluestone of Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum and Nagelberg, along with Charles McMahon, Jay Reiziss, Thomas DaMario, and Kathleen Lynch from McDermott Will and Emery. Bell Semiconductor, LLC was represented by McKool Smith and Devlin Law Firm LLC.