Acacia’s Patent Infringement Claim in Texas Beats California Declaratory Judgment Action

The patent assertion entity filed first, and a subsequent declaratory judgment action filed in another jurisdiction by the alleged infringer, seeking clarification of its license rights as a third-party beneficiary, was properly dismissed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Dec. 3 (Futurewei Techs., Inc. v. Acacia Research Corp., Fed. Cir., 2013-1090, 12/3/13).

The case features an example of the web of corporate entities Acacia Research Corp. sets up in patent infringement litigation. After one subsidiary contracted with a patent owner to license related technology, another subsidiary sued multiple accused infringers, including customers of the ...