The complaint

Wi-Tronix, LLC v. Big Will Enterprises Inc., No. 1:26-cv-13978 (N.D. Ill.), is a 38-page verified complaint filed November 10, 2026, ECF No. 1, in the Eastern Division, with a jury demand. It describes Wi-Tronix as an Illinois limited liability company based in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and Big Will as a Canadian company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It pleads venue under 28 U.S.C. 1391(c)(3), because Big Will does not reside in the United States, and under 1391(b)(2).

The demand letters

The complaint alleges that Big Will accused several Wi-Tronix customers of infringing the four patents through their use of Wi-Tronix products and services, including the Violet Edge platform system, and demanded that they take a license and pay a fee or stop the accused activities. It says Wi-Tronix's contracts with those customers generally include patent indemnification clauses. It quotes an August 13, 2026 letter to one customer that lists as accused products locomotives and rail vehicles equipped with Wi-Tronix Violet Edge or Violet 800-series hardware, associated motion-sensing modules, event recorders, and Wi-Tronix cloud and portal resources. The complaint describes the Violet Edge platform as an onboard rail technology architecture that Wi-Tronix designed in Illinois and says about half of freight locomotives on U.S. rails use it.

The patents and the claims at issue

  • U.S. Patent 8,452,273, Systems and Methods for Determining Mobile Thing Motion Activity (MTMA) Using Accelerometer of Wireless Communication Device, issued May 28, 2013. The complaint says Big Will accused customers of infringing claims 1-4, 8, 11-16, and 20-23, including independent claims 1, 12, and 22.
  • U.S. Patent 8,559,914, Interactive Personal Surveillance and Security (IPSS) System, issued October 15, 2013. The complaint says Big Will accused customers of infringing independent claim 15 and claims depending from it.
  • U.S. Patent 8,737,951, Interactive Personal Surveillance and Security (IPSS) Systems and Methods, issued May 27, 2014. The complaint says Big Will accused customers of infringing independent claim 1 and claims depending from it.
  • U.S. Patent 9,049,558, Systems and Methods for Determining Mobile Thing Motion Activity (MTMA) Using Sensor Data of Wireless Communication Device (WCD) and Initiating Activity-Based Actions, issued June 2, 2015. The complaint says Big Will accused customers of infringing independent claims 1, 17, 27, 42, and 52 and claims depending from them.

The counts

Counts I, III, V, and VII seek declaratory judgments of non-infringement of the '273, '914, '951, and '558 patents. Counts II, IV, VI, and VIII seek declaratory judgments that the claims Big Will asserted against Wi-Tronix customers under each patent are invalid under 35 U.S.C. 101 as directed to patent-ineligible subject matter; the complaint characterizes the asserted claims as directed to collecting, mathematically processing, and classifying movement data, to determining a person's activity, selecting a response, and communicating information ('914), or to gathering information, evaluating it, and escalating the investigation ('951). Count IX alleges that Big Will's letters violated 815 ILCS 505/2SSS(b)(4)(C) because, the complaint says, they failed to provide concrete, accurate factual allegations showing how Wi-Tronix's products, services, or technology perform the claim limitations, as that provision requires.

Jurisdiction and Big Will's earlier suits

For personal jurisdiction, the complaint points to the letters, Wi-Tronix's communications with Big Will's counsel and licensing agent from Illinois, and, on information and belief, Big Will's licensing and enforcement activity aimed at companies in the district, and alternatively relies on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(2). It says Big Will has filed more than thirty patent infringement suits since 2020 asserting one or more of the four patents, and it lists cases including W.D. Tex. No. 1:26-cv-00652 and W.D. Tex. No. 1:25-cv-01929. It also says two railcar industry companies that received similar letters filed their own declaratory judgment suits against Big Will in the same court, Nos. 1:26-cv-08492 and 1:26-cv-10014.

The relief requested

Wi-Tronix asks for declarations of non-infringement for itself and its Violet Edge customers and of invalidity under at least 35 U.S.C. 101; a permanent injunction barring Big Will from suing Wi-Tronix or its customers over the Violet Edge platform on the four patents and requiring dismissal with prejudice of any such suit already filed; a judgment that Big Will violated 815 ILCS 505/2SSS, with actual damages for Wi-Tronix and its affected customers and attorneys' fees under 815 ILCS 505/10a; a finding that the case is exceptional under 35 U.S.C. 285 with attorneys' fees; costs and interest; and other relief.

What to watch next

Watch for service on Big Will in Canada, any motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, and any infringement counterclaim.