ACQIS LLC filed suit against Sony Group Corporation on April 14, 2022 in the Western District of Texas before Judge Alan D. Albright, asserting infringement of five patents — two reissue patents (USRE044654E and USRE045140E) and three utility patents (US8977797B2, US9529768B2, US9703750B2) — covering PCIe and USB 3.x interconnect architecture embedded in Sony’s video game consoles. The asserted technology relates to high-speed serial bus interconnects, a foundational layer in modern consumer electronics and gaming hardware.

The case concluded on December 23, 2024, when the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii): all of ACQIS’s claims were dismissed with prejudice, while all of Sony’s defenses — including any invalidity or non-infringement positions — were dismissed without prejudice. Judge Albright noted that the stipulation divested the court of jurisdiction without requiring a court order, and directed the Clerk to close the case. The asymmetric dismissal structure is consistent with a negotiated resolution, likely a settlement, though no financial terms appear on the public record.

The 1,252-day duration — spanning over three and a half years — suggests protracted claim construction, discovery disputes, or parallel IPR proceedings that may have shaped the parties’ calculus before reaching resolution. ACQIS has a history of asserting PCIe-related patents across multiple defendants, and the with-prejudice dismissal of its claims here may reflect either a licensing agreement or a strategic decision to conserve resources. What drove the specific timing in late 2024, and whether any monetary consideration changed hands, remains undisclosed from the public record.