The parties and the court
The case is Atlas Global Technologies LLC v. Walmart Inc., No. 2:26-cv-00928 (E.D. Tex.), assigned to Judge Rodney Gilstrap and referred to Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne. The complaint says Atlas is a Texas limited liability company with its principal place of business in Austin, Texas, and that Walmart is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Venue is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. 1391 and 1400(b) on the theory that Walmart has regular and established places of business in Plano, Frisco, Allen, Marshall, Sanger, and Palestine, Texas.
The complaint alleges that Walmart completed its acquisition of Vizio Holding Corp. on December 3, 2024, that Vizio became a wholly owned subsidiary, and, on information and belief, that Vizio has operated under Walmart's direction and control since then. It also cites an earlier Atlas suit against Walmart, Atlas Global Technologies, LLC v. Walmart, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-00317 (E.D. Tex. filed April 21, 2026), on four other patents from the same Newracom portfolio.
The five patents
The complaint says the patents were invented by engineers at Newracom, which it describes as a major contributor to the 802.11ax standard, and that Atlas is the sole and exclusive owner. Google Patents lists Atlas Global Technologies LLC as the current assignee of each.
U.S. Patent 9,532,187, titled Interleaver for Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit in a High Efficiency Wireless LAN, issued December 27, 2016. Claim 10 covers a method by which a station receives a PPDU frame carrying data units for several stations on separate resource units of a channel and deinterleaves its own data unit using a first set of interleaving parameter values when its resource unit is a first size and a different second set when its resource unit is a smaller second size, both sizes being smaller than the channel. Claim 14 recites the same receive-side method with OFDMA resource units. Claim 1 is the access point's transmit-side counterpart.
U.S. Patent 9,641,234, titled Preamble and Payload for High Efficiency (HE) Transmission, issued May 2, 2017. Claim 1 covers an access point that generates a trigger frame whose contents relate to the legacy signal (L-SIG) and HE-SIG-A fields of the solicited uplink frame, where the uplink L-SIG length and HE-SIG-A duration are based on the trigger frame and the uplink frame's remaining transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration is derived from the TXOP duration carried in the trigger frame. Claims 9 and 16 recite station-side versions.
U.S. Patent 9,763,259, titled Sounding Method, issued September 12, 2017. Claim 1 covers a sounding method in which a receiving device receives a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame and a null data packet (NDP) frame and then transmits feedback measured on its allocated subchannel while a second device transmits its own subchannel feedback. Claim 18 is the transmitting device's version, in which the feedback frames arrive at the same time and the NDPA frame carries the subchannel allocation information.
U.S. Patent 9,825,738, titled Acknowledgement Method and Multi User Transmission Method, issued November 21, 2017. Claim 9 covers a station that receives a physical downlink frame, sent to a plurality of stations, carrying downlink data and uplink setup information with a common portion and per-station dedicated portions, transmits an uplink frame simultaneously with other stations, and then receives an acknowledgement, where the common information is a function of the total number of space time streams used for the simultaneous uplink transmission. Claim 1 is the access point's counterpart.
U.S. Patent 9,912,513, titled System and Method for Synchronization for OFDMA Transmission, issued March 6, 2018. Claim 1 covers an apparatus that receives, in a trigger frame that allocates resources for and solicits an uplink multi-user transmission, an indication of a guard interval length that every participating station is to use, and then transmits its uplink frame on the allocated resource with at least part of the payload associated with that guard interval length. Claim 9 recites a cyclic prefix version and claim 15 an access point version.
Google Patents lists anticipated or adjusted expiration dates between July 2035 and April 2036 for the five patents.
What the complaint alleges
The accused instrumentalities are all products Walmart makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, or imports that the complaint says comply with, implement, support, or utilize the Wi-Fi 6 standard. The complaint alleges that the portions of the standard covered by the patents are mandatory. Its non-limiting list includes Vizio televisions such as the M75Q6-L4, the onn 4K Pro and 4K Plus streaming devices, the onn Tablet Pro (2024 model), and products from Roku, Hisense, TCL, NETGEAR, Linksys, Starlink, MSI, CyberPowerPC, ABS, GIGABYTE, Skytech, eufy, and Nintendo (the Switch 2).
Each count pleads direct infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(a) and induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(b); no contributory infringement count is pleaded. The direct-infringement theories differ by patent. For the '187, '259, and '738 patents, the complaint alleges direct infringement of claims 10-14, claims 1-7, and claims 9-16, respectively, by testing or using products manufactured by Walmart or its affiliates or subsidiaries, such as Vizio and onn products, operating as station devices. For the '234 patent (claims 1-2 and 4-16) and the '513 patent (claims 1-14), it alleges making, using, offering to sell, selling, and importing the accused products. The inducement allegations reach claims 1-14 of the '187 patent, claims 1-2 and 4-16 of the '234 patent, claims 1-7 and 18 of the '259 patent, claims 1-16 of the '738 patent, and claims 1-19 of the '513 patent, and point to Walmart's Wi-Fi 6 product advertising, product manuals, and code in Walmart-made devices.
On knowledge and willfulness, the complaint alleges that Atlas wrote to Vizio's chief executive on April 25, 2022 and emailed again on October 3, 2022 inviting a license, and that Vizio's knowledge is attributable to Walmart. It alleges that on May 12, 2025 Atlas sent letters to four Walmart executives offering a license to "Standard Essential Patents in Wi-Fi 6," and that Walmart acknowledged receipt on May 27, 2025 while stating it had not reviewed the information, which the complaint calls an indication of willful blindness. In the alternative it pleads knowledge from the April 2026 filing of the earlier suit, and at the latest from this complaint. Each count alleges, on information and belief, that Walmart continued its conduct despite knowledge of the patent, and that its infringement was willful, supporting enhanced damages under 35 U.S.C. 284. The complaint does not include a 35 U.S.C. 287 marking allegation.
Relief requested
The prayer asks for a judgment of direct and indirect infringement of each patent, past and future damages under 35 U.S.C. 284 including supplemental damages for post-verdict infringement and an accounting, reasonable ongoing royalties after final judgment, a finding of willfulness with treble damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, costs, and an exceptional-case award of attorneys' fees under 35 U.S.C. 285. The prayer does not request an injunction. Atlas demands a jury.
Atlas is represented by Nelson Bumgardner Conroy PC of Fort Worth, Texas (Edward R. Nelson III, Christopher G. Granaghan, Carder W. Brooks, and Jinming Zhang).
What to watch next
Watch for Walmart's answer or an early motion, and for any motion to consolidate or coordinate this case with the earlier Atlas suit, No. 2:26-cv-00317. Watch also whether IEEE patent-policy or FRAND licensing issues are raised, since the complaint describes the patents as covering mandatory portions of Wi-Fi 6 and quotes the license offer as one for standard essential patents. The case can end at any time, including by settlement or voluntary dismissal.
Related pages: Multimedia Technologies v. Walmart (onn smart TV products), FRAND and standard essential patents, and willfulness.