Firstech Sued For Patent Infringement for Vehicle Remote Start System


Omega Patents, LLC filed a complaint on Thursday in the Western District of Washington against Firstech, LLC for patent infringement alleging that the defendant infringed the plaintiff’s patent for multi-vehicle compatible remote start and security systems.

The patents-in-suit are United States Patent Nos. 7,305,293 B2 (the ’293 patent); 8,032,278 B2; RE47,225 E; and RE47,354 E. Firstech’s allegedly infringing products include the Drone DR-5400, X1 Maz, and Drone X1R (collectively the Dronemobile Modules), which are “multi-vehicle compatible devices designed to provide smartphone control of ‘ALL remote start and security systems’ offered by Firstech … and from ‘sister company’ ADS.” According to the complaint, these products include “both a cellular transceiver and a GPS receiver and send vehicle position information to a user or monitoring station.” These allegedly infringing products include Firstech’s multi-vehicle compatible remote start and security systems.

For example, Firstech purportedly infringed at least claim 7 of the ’293 patent, which describes “a vehicle tracking unit comprising: a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller connected to said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device; said controller being switchable to an armed mode when a user is away from the vehicle for cooperating with said communications device and said vehicle position determining device to generate at least one speeding alert message notification for the user based upon the vehicle exceeding a speed threshold for longer than a predetermined time indicative of aggressive driving of the vehicle.”

Omega Patents alleged that the defendant’s Dronemobile Modules are vehicle tracking devices that give instant access to a vehicle’s location. This “includes a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device,” as described in the patent, that is “‘powered by AT&T LTE Network’ and uses an ‘on-board GPS & cell antennas’ to communicate with a controller, such as ‘a smart watch, tablet, desktop, and more,’ connected thereto.” Thus, allowing smartphone control and GPS tracking to allow “compatible remote start and security system” as is explained in the ’293 patent.

Additionally, the plaintiff asserted that the Dronemobile allows a consumer to “set a max speed for your vehicle to get alerts when your car exceeds the limit,” which is allegedly performed through Omega Patents’ patented method. The allegations for the other patents-in-suit are similar to the allegations for the infringement of the ’293 patent. The remaining patents-in-suit, according to the complaint, describe patented methods for vehicle remote start and security systems, all of which Firstech allegedly infringed through its Dronemobile Modules.

Moreover, the plaintiff noted that Firstech “regularly engages in marketing activities that promote the sale of products that infringe the patents-in-suit to customers and/or potential customers,” adding to its infringement claims. Firstech is accused of direct and induced infringement of the patents-in-suit.

The plaintiff has sought injunctive relief, an award for damages, costs and fees. Omega Patents is represented by Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness PLLC and Allen, Dyer, Doppelt + Gilchrist, P.A.