ADT Hits Vivint With Patent Infringement Over Smart Home Technology
ADT has asked the United States International Trade Commission and federal court to enforce smart home technology patents.
Vivint has introduced and promoted a series of smart home products willfully infringing upon several of ADT’s patents, a complaint asserts. (Image: stock.adobe/Vitalii Vodolazskyi)
BOCA RATON, Fla. — ADT (NYSE: ADT) on Tuesday brought actions for patent infringement against Vivint Smart Home (NYSE: VVNT). Separate but related actions were filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Vivint has introduced and promoted a series of products willfully infringing upon several of ADT’s patents, the complaint asserts. These patents cover ADT’s investments and innovations in smart home integration, data collection and control panel functions and interfaces, among other capabilities and features.
Specifically, according to the complaint, Vivint products including the Vivint Home Security System, SkyControl Panel and Vivint Smart Hub violate U.S. Patents No. 8,976,937 and No. 9,286,772, belonging to ADT.
“Vivint launched its SkyControl Panel and related products with the express desire, in the words of its former CEO, to ‘control anything and everything inside the home,’” says David W. Smail, ADT’s executive vice president and chief legal officer. “Apparently Vivint also meant ‘by any means necessary.’”
“To gain an unfair advantage in the smart home security and automation market, where ADT has long been a pioneer and continues to lead, Vivint infringes ADT’s patents covering, among other things, predictive analytics, detection and diagnostics, and advanced user interfaces including voice control,” Smail says.
He continues, “By defending its robust patent portfolio, ADT is determined to protect its employees, its customers, its products, and its reputation. We are asking the Commission for an exclusion order prohibiting Vivint from importing products infringing on our patents, and we are asking the court for a finding of infringement along with appropriate damages, fees, and other relief.”
On Wednesday, Vivint released the following statement:
Vivint believes the claims asserted are completely without merit and that the complaint is a reactionary countersuit to a patent infringement complaint Vivint had previously filed on February 25, 2021 against ADT in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Vivint’s complaint asserts that ADT infringes six Vivint patents and Vivint is continuing to prosecute its claims in that case. Vivint intends to vigorously defend against ADT’s allegations.
The two residential security powerhouses have become familiar foes in legal venues during the past several years. In 2017, ADT sued Vivint for allegedly engaging in deceptive sales practices. Months later Vivint settled the lawsuit for $10 million. Last August, ADT filed an unfair competition suit in Florida federal court alleging Vivint salespeople go to ADT customers’ homes, get them to sign Vivint contracts and install the company’s alarm systems in their homes under false pretenses.
(Editor’s note: The original version of this article has been updated to include Vivint’s statement.)
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