Empire Technology Development LLC, fresh off securing a $12.5 million intellectual property jury verdict against Samsung, has filed two new patent infringement lawsuits targeting AT&T Services Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The suits, filed Thursday, assert that both companies infringed on key mobile technology patents held by Empire. The Lenovo complaint focuses on the same two patents that a Texas jury previously found Samsung to have partially infringed, titled “methods and communication systems having adaptive mode selection” and “inserting and decoding replicated data symbols in wireless communications.”
The AT&T case centers on patents covering dynamic internetwork load balancing and power control of control channels in an LTE system. Empire claims that Lenovo, through its Motorola products, uses infringing technologies marketed as Smart Transmit™, Smart Transmit™ 2.0, and Smart Transmit™ 3.0.
Empire emphasizes that its patented adaptive power control systems provide significant benefits for modern smartphones, including longer battery life and reliable access to 5G networks, even during high-traffic periods.
In its prior action against Samsung, Empire alleged infringement of multiple patents across devices including the Galaxy S22 series smartphones. While the jury rejected some of Empire’s claims, it awarded the company a $12.5 million verdict, validating one of its core patent assertions.
Empire is represented in both lawsuits by Elizabeth L. DeRieux of Capshaw DeRieux LLP and Christopher J. Gaspar and Nathaniel T. Browand of Milbank LLP. Counsel for AT&T and Lenovo has not yet been disclosed.
The cases are Empire Technology Development LLC v. Lenovo Group Ltd. et al., case number 2:25-cv-00837, and Empire Technology Development LLC v. AT&T Services Inc. et al., case number 2:25-cv-00841, both filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
