The complaint
PAX Labs Inc. v. Rove, LLC, No. 8:26-cv-03327 (C.D. Cal.), is a 17-page complaint for patent infringement filed November 9, 2026, with a demand for a jury trial. The caption names PAX Labs Inc. as plaintiff and Rove, LLC, doing business as Rove Brand, Aureus, LLC, Aureus DHS, LLC, and Sato, LLC as defendants. The complaint describes PAX Labs, Inc. as a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Francisco, California, and a designer and developer of vaporizing technology. It alleges, on information and belief, that each defendant is a California limited liability company with its principal place of business in Costa Mesa, California, that Aureus, LLC and Aureus DHS, LLC act or acted as commercial distributors of the accused products, and that Sato, LLC operates websites advertising Rove Brand products, including rovebrand.com, roveremedies.com, and shoprovebrand.com, and sells or offers the accused products through one or more online websites.
The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the accused products include Diamond Series vaporizers and vaporizer cartridges, 2024 and 2026 redesigns of those vaporizers and cartridges, and all substantially similar vaporizers and cartridges. It says the accused vaporizers include an accused cartridge inserted into a vaporizer body, and that the cartridge includes a mouthpiece, a reservoir, and a vaporization chamber, while the body includes a cartridge receiver and a sensor used to detect a draw on the mouthpiece. It alleges, on information and belief, that the accused cartridges contain cannabis-based material for vaporization and are designed for exclusive use as a necessary component of the accused vaporizers.
The patents
The complaint asserts U.S. Patent 11,766,527, which issued September 26, 2023, U.S. Patent 11,759,580, which issued September 19, 2023, and U.S. Patent 12,311,099, which issued May 27, 2025. Each is titled Leak-Resistant Vaporizer Device. The complaint alleges that PAX Labs is the sole and exclusive owner of all right, title, and interest in the asserted patents, including the right to sue for past, present, and future infringement. USPTO assignment records list Pax Labs, Inc. as the assignee of record of each patent, including by assignments recorded January 26, 2024, for the '527 and '580 patents and October 23, 2024, for the '099 patent.
The complaint identifies, including through claim charts attached as Exhibits D through F, asserted claims 1, 5, 10, 11, and 17 of the '527 patent, claims 1 through 8 and 10 of the '580 patent, and claims 11, 12, 15 through 19, 21 through 23, 25 through 27, and 29 and 30 of the '099 patent.
What the patents cover
U.S. Patent 11,766,527 covers a vaporizer cartridge and a vaporizer device. Claim 1 covers a vaporizer cartridge with a cartridge body, a mouthpiece that has an outlet, a reservoir configured to hold a vaporizable material, first and second reservoir seals positioned within an interior of the mouthpiece, a bottom cover with at least a first air opening, first and second cartridge electrical contacts, and a vaporization chamber that includes a heating element, a wicking material comprising ceramic, a housing piece, and an air tube configured to deliver aerosol to the mouthpiece. Claim 5 covers a vaporizer device that includes the cartridge of claim 1 and a vaporizer body with a cartridge receiver, body electrical contacts, an insertion end, and a base. Claim 10 covers the cartridge of claim 1 in which the bottom portion includes first and second air openings and first and second cartridge electrical contact openings. Claim 11 covers a vaporizer device that includes a cartridge with those same cartridge elements and a vaporizer body that also has a pressure sensor configured to detect a change in pressure, causing activation of the device, and a channel extending between the base of the cartridge receiver and the pressure sensor. Claim 17 covers the device of claim 11 with the same bottom-cover openings described in claim 10.
U.S. Patent 11,759,580 covers a vaporizer cartridge and a vaporizer device. Claim 1 covers a vaporizer cartridge with a cartridge body, a mouthpiece that has an outlet, a reservoir configured to hold a vaporizable material, a vaporization chamber that includes a heater, a housing piece, and an air tube, an extension wire extending from the heater, a bottom cover with at least one air opening, and a distal member positioned at least partially within the cartridge body between the housing piece and the bottom portion of the bottom cover, the distal member including a cylindrical extension feature with an opening that allows air to pass through the distal member, and an air chamber formed between the distal member and the bottom portion. Claim 6 covers a vaporizer device that includes the cartridge of claim 1 and a vaporizer body with a cartridge receiver, a sensor configured to detect a draw on the mouthpiece, causing activation of the heater, a channel extending from the base of the cartridge receiver to the sensor, and one or more LEDs. Claim 8 covers a vaporizer device that includes a cartridge with those cartridge elements and at least one cartridge electrical contact, together with a vaporizer body that has a cartridge receiver, a draw-detecting sensor, and a channel. Claim 10 covers the device of claim 8 in which the bottom portion has first and second cartridge electrical contact openings and exactly two air openings that are not positioned within the region between those contact openings. Asserted claims 2 through 5 and 7 depend directly or indirectly from claim 1 and add limitations directed to cartridge electrical contacts, the position of the distal member within the bottom cover, magnetic coupling of the cartridge within a cartridge receiver, and electrical contact openings in the bottom cover.
U.S. Patent 12,311,099 covers a vaporizer device. Claim 11 covers a vaporizer device with a cartridge, including a mouthpiece, a reservoir, at least one reservoir seal positioned within an interior of the mouthpiece, a bottom cover, first and second cartridge electrical contacts, and a vaporization chamber with a heating element, a wicking material, a housing piece, and an air tube, and a vaporizer body with a cartridge receiver and circuitry that, in response to detecting a predetermined activation sequence comprising one or more insertions and removals of the cartridge, selects a vaporization temperature from among a plurality of predetermined vaporization temperatures. Claim 21 covers a similar device that also includes a pressure sensor and a channel, and circuitry that, in response to detecting a predetermined non-button activation sequence, selects a vaporization temperature from among a plurality of predetermined vaporization temperatures. Claim 27 covers a vaporizer device with those cartridge and body elements, with the reservoir seal positioned at least in part within an interior of the mouthpiece, but without the activation-sequence circuitry recited in claims 11 and 21. The asserted dependent claims add, among other limitations, a sequence of three insertions and removals, a pressure sensor and channel, magnetic coupling, LEDs, automatic cycling between predetermined vaporization temperatures, and at least one air opening in the bottom cover.
The ITC investigation
The complaint points to Investigation No. 337-TA-1392. It alleges that on or about February 3, 2026, the Commission issued a public opinion finding that the accused products infringe at least one claim of the asserted patents, and it lists findings that the original accused vaporizer cartridges infringe claims 1 and 10 of the '527 patent and claims 1 and 7 of the '580 patent, that the accused 2024 redesign cartridges infringe claims 1 and 7 of the '580 patent, that the original accused vaporizers infringe claims 1, 5, 10, 11, and 17 of the '527 patent and claims 1, 6 through 8, and 10 of the '580 patent, and that the accused 2024 redesign vaporizers infringe claims 1, 6 through 8, and 10 of the '580 patent.
A Commission notice issued January 20, 2026, and published at 91 Fed. Reg. 2960 (Jan. 23, 2026), states that the Commission found a violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act, 19 U.S.C. 1337, in Investigation No. 337-TA-1392, issued a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders, and terminated the investigation. The notice states that the Commission reversed the final initial determination's finding that the ROVE(C), ROVE(V), ROVE-REDESIGN(C), and ROVE-REDESIGN(V) products do not infringe any of asserted claims 1, 6 through 8, and/or 10 of the '580 patent. The patents identified in that notice are U.S. Patents 11,369,756, 11,766,527, 11,369,757, and 11,759,580. The '099 patent, which issued May 27, 2025, is not among them.
The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the defendants were aware of the investigation and of the patents asserted in it at least as early as February 29, 2024, and it cites the February 29, 2024 notice of institution, a June 2024 subpoena to Rove in the investigation, an initial determination that was publicly available as of March 14, 2025, the Commission opinion, and correspondence in June 2026, as the basis for alleged knowledge and willfulness.
USPTO records show a third-party request for reexamination of the '580 patent, Control No. 90/016,113, filed April 1, 2026. The request was granted in a mailing dated May 11, 2026, and a reexamination non-final action was mailed November 3, 2026.
Earlier suits on the same patents
PAX Labs asserted the '527 and '580 patents, together with U.S. Patents 11,369,756 and 11,369,757, in two earlier Central District of California suits filed January 29, 2024, Nos. 2:24-cv-00782 and 2:24-cv-00788. Its notice of related cases in No. 2:24-cv-00782 says that the two suits involve the same four patents, and that those patents are also at issue in a complaint it was filing at the Commission at the same time. In No. 2:24-cv-00788, the court ordered a stay under 28 U.S.C. 1659 on March 8, 2024. Status reports have been filed in both cases since then, most recently in July 2026.
Counts and relief
The complaint pleads three counts: Count I, infringement of the '527 patent; Count II, infringement of the '580 patent; and Count III, infringement of the '099 patent. Each count alleges, on information and belief, that the defendants have directly infringed and continue to directly infringe, literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents, at least one claim of the corresponding patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale, and/or importing one or more of the accused products, in violation of 35 U.S.C. 271(a). Each count also alleges induced and contributory infringement. The complaint alleges that the defendants' infringement has been and continues to be willful.
The prayer asks for a determination that the defendants have infringed each asserted patent, directly and indirectly, literally or under the doctrine of equivalents; a determination that each defendant's infringement has been and is willful; an award of all damages to which PAX Labs is entitled under 35 U.S.C. 284 and/or 289, including at least reasonable royalties; enhanced damages under 35 U.S.C. 284; a finding that the case is exceptional under 35 U.S.C. 285 and an award of attorneys' fees; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and costs under 35 U.S.C. 284; and such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper.
What to watch next
Docket entries through November 9, 2026, include the complaint, a civil cover sheet, an AO 120 patent report, a notice of interested parties, and requests for the clerk to issue summonses. Watch for issuance and service of the summonses, answers or motions responding to the complaint, and further action in the reexamination of the '580 patent.