Amazon Seeks Inter Partes Review of a Headwater Device Assisted Services Security Patent, With a Conditional Motion for Joinder.

The proceeding and the joinder motion

The proceeding is Amazon.com Services LLC v. Headwater Research LLC, IPR2026-00471, and it concerns U.S. Patent 11,966,464. On September 17, 2026, Headwater filed a declaration with its opposition to a motion to stay in No. 5:26-cv-07551 (N.D. Cal.). The declaration attaches excerpts of Paper 3 in IPR2026-00471, which it describes as the petitioner's Conditional Motion for Joinder, dated September 11, 2026, concerning the '464 patent.

The same declaration attaches excerpts of a petition filed August 27, 2026 in IPR2026-00441, which also concerns the '464 patent, and the first page of the notice according that petition a filing date, dated September 2, 2026. The defendant in No. 5:26-cv-07551 filed that petition, according to the declaration, and its September 3, 2026 motion to stay says it has filed inter partes review petitions challenging claims 1 to 20 of the '464 patent.

The patent

U.S. Patent 11,966,464, titled Security Techniques for Device Assisted Services, issued April 23, 2024, with 20 claims. Its front page names Gregory G. Raleigh as the inventor and Headwater Research LLC as the assignee.

The district court cases

Headwater sued Amazon.com Services LLC on April 16, 2026, in Headwater Research LLC v. Amazon.com Services LLC, No. 2:26-cv-00304 (E.D. Tex.), asserting U.S. Patents 9,491,564, 11,966,464, and 8,832,777. Count 2 asserts the '464 patent. The complaint alleges that Headwater is the owner of the '464 patent, accuses Amazon devices that support Fire OS, and attaches a chart addressing at least claim 11 of the '464 patent.

Headwater also asserts the '464 patent in No. 5:26-cv-07551 (N.D. Cal.). According to the motion to stay in that case, Headwater filed it on August 27, 2025, asserting seven patents, and it was transferred to the Northern District of California on July 20, 2026. On September 25, 2026, the court granted the motion and stayed the case until March 2, 2027.

What to watch next

Under 37 CFR 42.107(b), Headwater may file a preliminary response within three months of the notice according the petition a filing date. Under the USPTO's interim Director discretionary process, a patent owner's discretionary denial brief is due within two months of that notice. Watch for the notice, the Board's action on the conditional motion for joinder, and the institution decision.