The parties and the patents

The case is MR Licensing LLC v. ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., No. 2:26-cv-00921 (E.D. Tex.), assigned to Judge Rodney Gilstrap. The complaint says MR Licensing is a Texas limited liability company with its principal place of business in Marshall, Texas, and, on information and belief, that ADATA is a company organized under the laws of Taiwan with its principal place of business in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Venue is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. 1391(c)(3) because ADATA is a foreign entity. The complaint says MR Licensing is the sole and exclusive owner of the patents and has complied with 35 U.S.C. 287.

U.S. Patent 7,979,658, titled Secure Management of Memory Regions in a Memory, issued July 12, 2011. Claim 1 covers a system that facilitates control of access to at least one memory comprising the memory that contains a plurality of memory regions to facilitate storage of data and an access management component that compares received authentication data to authentication data associated with a memory region and makes a determination regarding whether the received authentication data matches, facilitates a wipe erase of a memory region when the received authentication data matches the authentication data associated with the memory region, and facilitates creation of a new security record that contains a default authentication credential.

U.S. Patent 8,694,776, titled Authenticated Memory and Controller Slave, issued April 8, 2014. Claim 1 covers a system comprising an external electronic memory component that comprises a plurality of memory locations and facilitates storage of data, wherein the external electronic memory component is configured to be external from and communicatively connected to a host component and to receive a request to perform at least one of a task, a function, or an operation which is offloaded to the external electronic memory component by the host component, and an optimized controller component configured to access a subset of the data, perform the task on the subset of the data to facilitate generation of result data, and transmit the result data to a host memory of the host component without transmission of the subset of the data to the host component and without allowance of access of the subset of the data by the host component.

U.S. Patent 9,767,303, with the same title, issued September 19, 2017. Google Patents lists December 21, 2027 as its anticipated expiration date. Claim 1 covers a system comprising a memory that stores secure data and computer executable components and a processor that executes an optimized controller component configured to, in response to receiving a request, authenticate a host device associated with the memory and determine based on the authentication an availability of a task, perform the task on the secure data to generate result data, wherein the secure data is a subset of data other than a second subset of data that is used to access the secure data and other than a third subset of data that is used to decrypt the secure data, and wherein the host device is not permitted access to the secure data, and transmit the result data to the host device without transmission of the secure data.

What the complaint alleges

Each count alleges direct infringement of at least claim 1, literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, under 35 U.S.C. 271, and induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(b) and contributory infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(c). The complaint alleges knowledge at least as of the complaint. Paragraph 14 uses the words "Trusted Computer Group (TCG)" and lists Security Subsystem Class (SSC) Opal, Enterprise, and Ruby compliant drives. Named products include the ADATA Industrial ICFP301 CFexpress card (NVMe), a long list of industrial model numbers, the ADATA LEGEND 970 PRO PCIe Gen5 x4 M.2 2280 SSD, the ADATA SC750 USB 3.2 Gen2 external SSD, the AGAMMIXS50L-1T-C, and the XPG MARS 980 BLADE PCIe Gen5 x4 M.2 2280 SSD. Preliminary charts are Exhibits A, B, and C.

Relief requested

The prayer asks for a judgment of direct and indirect infringement, a judgment that infringement is willful, damages adequate to compensate MR Licensing and in no event less than a reasonable royalty, with pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and costs, a permanent injunction under 35 U.S.C. 283, an exceptional-case award under 35 U.S.C. 285, and an accounting. MR Licensing demands a jury.

What to watch next

Watch for ADATA's answer or an early motion.