Cisco Falls Under Harfang IP's Golden Eye

Golden Eye Technologies LLC, a Harfang IP Investment Corp plaintiff, has sued Cisco (2:25-cv-00898) over the provision of a wide array of networking products and related "components, software, services, and processes" that "generally provide and control wireless local area networks (LAN) service, including the "Cisco Catalyst 9100 series Access Points, Cisco Meraki branded Access Points, Cisco Aironet 4800, 3800, and 2800 Series Access Points, Cisco Business 150AX Access Point, Cisco 3504, 5520, 8540, 9800 Wireless Controllers, and Cisco's Virtual Wireless Controllers". Five patents received from KT Corporation in 2020 are now in suit.

According to available USPTO records, KT assigned roughly 50 US patents to Golden Eye: 28 in October 2020; 13 more, that November. The plaintiff describes the five now asserted (9,271,243; 9,344,978; 9,717,037; 9,918,236; 10,051,556) as "cover[ing] various aspects of controlling wireless access points and access point wireless controllers". With the '243 patent, Golden Eye targets the provision of Cisco wireless controllers that provide a transmit power control (TPC) feature; with the '978 and '236 patents, of Cisco access points that utilize a Flexible Radio Architecture System (FRA); and with the '037 and '556 patents, Cisco access points that utilize an "enhanced FILS active scanning" procedure.

Golden Eye was formed in Texas in August 2020. It identifies Harfang IP Investment Co as a member. That entity was created in Texas in May 2016 as "Taijitu Ventures Inc.", back when founder Christian Dubuc was working with Khaled Fekih-Romdhane to manage Texas monetization firm Longhorn IP LLC. The pair appear to have split up in 2019, Fekih-Romdhane continuing to run Longhorn IP and its various litigating plaintiffs (through Tanit Ventures Inc.) and Dubuc changing the name of "Taijitu Ventures" to Harfang IP Investment Co. More about Longhorn IP's activities since can be read at "West Texas Jury Awards Longhorn IP's Katana Silicon Technologies $9.2M" (July 2025).

Dubuc appears to have taken only Ozmo Licensing LLC (formed in Texas in May 2018), an entity holding former "Ozmo Devices" patents, with him in the separation. Ozmo has been litigating its portfolio since April 2021, having sued HP, Acer, Dell, and TCL (in that order). A Western District of Texas case against Sony remains open but with little activity since an amended complaint was filed this past May. A recent filing from Ozmo sheds light not only on its ownership structure but on Harfang IP Investment Co's as well. That document indicates that Harfang IP Inc., apparently an entity formed in Montreal, Quebec in January 2019 (which names Dubuc as a director), has full ownership of the Texas Harfang IP. Dubuc locates himself in Montreal. More about Ozmo Licensing's litigation activities can be read here.

Ozmo Licensing is one of three "current investments" advertised on the public website of Harfang IP. The other two are held by Golden Eye and Hedwig Wireless Technologies LLC. Golden Eye received its assets in September 2020 from South Korean telecommunications company KT Corporation (with further details here), while Hedwig picked its portfolio up in April 2020 from Shanghai Langbo Communication Technology—a self-described "IP-centric start-up company" focused on "4G and 5G SEP creation" (coverage here).

Not yet advertised on Harfang IP's website is its newest portfolio, held by Ukpik Mobile Technologies LLC and augmented most recently with five patents received from Yulong Computer, a subsidiary of Coolpad Group, in October 2024. These divested assets join two September 2023 Coolpad transfers to Ukpik Mobile, one also from Yulong (seven US patents) and the other from Coolpad subsidiary JiangXi Coolpad Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. (f/k/a NanChang Coolpad Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd.) (four US patents).The growing portfolio concerns mobile communications and networking. In keeping with this team's owl theme, "ukpik" (or "ookpik") is apparently an Inuit word meaning "snowy owl"; "harfang" means the same thing, with a French and/or Swedish derivation. Hedwig, of course, is Harry Potter's owl. ("Taijitu" apparently refers to the ancient Chinese divided circle, yin-yang symbol.)

Dubuc, identified variously as Harfang IP's founder, president, and CEO, and Chris Dodd, now the firm's chief IP officer and its "chief licensing officer", each held past positions at Acacia Research Corporation and Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a WiLAN Inc.). Harfang IP's public website (bearing a stale, 2020 copyright) breaks its Golden Eye "current investment" down into four "portfolios":

• "GETC Portfolio: 4G/5G cellular technologies", described as relating "to, among other things, the 4G/5G standards covering Carrier Aggregation and Dual Connectivity technologies";
• "GETP Portfolio: Wi-Fi Passpoint technologies", to "Wi-Fi Passpoint technologies, which allow for more efficient access to Wi-Fi networks";
• "GETH Portfolio: Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) technologies", to "Wi-Fi HaLow technologies, based on the IEEE 802.11ah standard, which allow devices to get Wi-Fi connectivity using spectrum under 1GHz"; and
• a "GETL Portfolio: Location-based services in a Wi-Fi environment", to "the localization of devices in Wi-Fi networks".

Harfang IP notes that "GETC portfolio includes patents which may be or may become essential to implementing industry standards, and for which commitments to be prepared to grant licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory ("FRAND") terms and conditions, to the extent the patents are essential, were made by the prior owners of the patents". While for its Hedwig portfolios, licensing rates are published on the website, none have been for the Golden Eye portfolios.

In its court disclosure, Golden Eye notes "that more than 10% of Golden Eye is owned by Harfang IP Investment Corp. Harfang IP Investment Corp. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harfang IP Inc." Recent annual filings provide more detail that has been previously available about the ownership breakdown for Golden Eye's sibling plaintiff, Ozmo Licensing (which was formed in Texas in 2018 as "Sonic Wave LLC" before changing its name in July 2019, around the time of the Dubuc-Fekih-Romdhane split). Now, Ozmo Licensing identifies three managers: Dubuc, Alfredo Lezama, and Mitchell King. It also outlines its ownership: Harfang IP Investment holding 35% share, Fisherdynes, LLC, misidentified as a California entity when it was actually formed in Wyoming, ten percent; and Sonic Wave Investors LLC, a Massachusetts entity. The other five percent is unaccounted for in Ozmo's submissions.

A Mitchell King is a partner with Prince Lobel Tye LLP, a frequent plaintiff-side law firm based in Boston. Massachusetts records indicate that Sonic Wave Investors was formed in September 2018 and that Robert Hoffman, the "Executive Director" and CFO of Prince Lobel, manages it. Prince Lobel represents Ozmo Licensing in its litigation campaign. (Bragalone Olejko Saad PC (of Dallas, Texas) and Miller Fair Henry PLLC represent Golden Eye.)

On social media, Alfredo Lezama identifies himself as the "VM Media IP Strategy" for Adeia Inc., listing past gigs with Adeia's predecessor TiVo; with Acacia Research; and with LG Electronics, Marvell, and TI, among others. Fisherdynes is identified as a California entity, but it was formed in Wyoming in 2012, registering to conduct business in California a few months after formation. It indicates that its headquarters is in Wyoming but that it has a "main office" in California. Kavita Reddy is listed as its manager in California records; both Reddy and Matthew Vella, in Wyoming records. A Matthew Vella is identified as "Partner & Co-Chair IP Group" at Prince Lobel. (Based on press reports covering the formation of a charitable organization in Laguna Hills, California, Reddy and Vella appear to be spouses.) Lezama's manager position is not clearly linked to any entity owning a share of Ozmo Licensing.

Such detailed information about Ozmo Licensing's management and ownership was not provided in earlier state records, leaving open the possibility that those earlier disclosures were inaccurate or that Ozmo Licensing's situation has changed over the years. As noted, Golden Eye's ownership structure appears to be much simpler, at least at this point.

Golden Eye pleads that Cisco's alleged infringement has been willful, representing that Harfang IP sent a letter to Cisco as early as March 2022 over the asserted patents. The case has been assigned to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap. 8/27, Eastern District of Texas.