CommWorks Solutions, LLC

Filed against TRENDnet in the Central District of California, the last open case in the wireless communications campaign of CommWorks Solutions, LLC ended (after a noticed settlement) in June 2024. There, CommWorks identified four nonparties having a pecuniary interest in the outcome: Brainbox Innovations, LLC (its parent, a fellow IP Investments Group LLC affiliate); “Invention Investment Fund I LLC” (presumably Invention Investment Fund I, L.P.) and “Invention Investment Fund II LLC” (presumably Invention Investment Fund II, LLC), both associated with Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV); and Kheyfits Belenky LLP (litigation counsel). Now, Rozier Hardt McDonough PLLC has filed an Eastern District of Texas complaint against MediaTek (2:24-cv-00701) for CommWorks in the same campaign.

CommWorks Solutions, LLC has sued Extreme Networks (6:23-cv-00835) in a Western District of Texas complaint targeting the provision of a wide variety of networking products (e.g., access points, gateways, routers, and software). The new case follows by two weeks separate Eastern District of Texas complaints filed in the other CommWorks campaign, one against each of Open Text (2:23-cv-00533) and Sangoma Technologies (2:23-cv-00534). The accused products there are the RightFax and PBXact Cloud email systems, respectively.

So far in November, CommWorks Solutions, LLC, a plaintiff associated with IP Investments Group LLC, has sued CommScope (ARRIS) (2:23-cv-00510) in the Eastern District of Texas and Hon Hai Precision Industry (Belkin, Linksys) (2:23-cv-09229) in the Central District of California over a wide array of networking products (e.g., access points, gateways, and routers). The seven patents-in-suit, asserted in overlapping sets, are broadly directed to wireless communications; they are among 16—each received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV)—that have been litigated by the plaintiff against over 20 defendants to date.

So far in February, CommWorks Solutions, LLC, a plaintiff associated with IP Investments Group LLC, has expanded its first litigation campaign with a suit against Hitron Technologies (6:23-cv-00063) in the Eastern District of Texas and a trio of cases filed separately against TP-Link (4:23-cv-00086), Ubee Interactive (6:23-cv-00064), and ZyXEL (6:23-cv-00065) in the Western District of Texas. The plaintiff asserts in each complaint six patents broadly directed to wireless communications, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of a wide variety of networking products (e.g., access points, gateways, routers, and/or related software). Since initiating this campaign in May 2020, the plaintiff has sued nearly 20 defendants over its portfolio of former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) patents.

In a new Western District of Texas complaint, CommWorks Solutions, LLC, a plaintiff associated with IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has accused Frontier Communications (6:22-cv-01268) of infringing eight patents broadly directed to wireless communications. The defendant is targeted over the provision or use of various networking products (e.g., access points, gateways, routers, and related software), including certain Ciena and Juniper Networks-branded products.

CommWorks Solutions, LLC, a plaintiff associated with IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has expanded its first litigation campaign with a Western District of Texas suit against Charter Communications (Spectrum Gulf Coast) (6:22-cv-00156). The complaint targets the provision and/or use of various networking hardware and software products, several of which include devices manufactured by Ciena, Commscope (ARRIS), or Juniper Networks. Sixteen patents, each acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), have been asserted in the campaign so far, with six at issue in CommWorks’s latest complaint.

CommWorks Solutions, LLC, an IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group) plaintiff, has opened up a second litigation campaign by suing a defendant from the first, Comcast (2:21-cv-00459), this time in the Eastern District of Texas. Meanwhile, a second IPinvestments Group plaintiff, DigiMedia Tech, LLC, has also sued Comcast (6:21-cv-01341), back in the Western District of Texas though. Combined, the two suits assert an additional five patents against Comcast, two by CommWorks Solutions, three by DigiMedia Tech, all received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV).

Altice, together with its subsidiary CSC Holdings, has filed three complaints in the District of Delaware, one each against CommWorks Solutions, LLC (1:21-cv-01323); DataCloud Technologies, LLC (1:21-cv-01321); and DigiMedia Tech, LLC (1:21-cv-01322), all associated with Georgia patent monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group). The complaints seek declaratory judgments of noninfringement and invalidity of various patents that the named NPEs acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) and have apparently asserted via letters sent over the course of the last 18 months. The NPEs are among several to have launched litigation from thousands of US assets flowing out of IV over the past couple of years.

CommWorks Solutions, LLC, a plaintiff associated with IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has added Western Distrirct of Texas cases against Comcast (6:21-cv-00366) and JAB Wireless (Skybeam) (6:21-cv-00368) to the litigation campaign begun last May. The complaints target certain networking hardware and software products, including those of others not named as defendants: Ciena and Juniper Networks (for Comcast) or TP-Link and ZTE (for JAB). Eleven patents, acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), have been asserted in the campaign so far, with two new to the campaign bringing the number up from nine.

RPX data indicate that since 2016, NPEs have collectively launched over 80 separate litigation campaigns asserting patents received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). Meanwhile, the outflow of patents from IV persists, and divestments executed last year (primarily during the fourth quarter of 2019) continue to be recorded with the USPTO—many preceding the start of new NPE campaigns.

In mid-May, RPX reported on the connection between a bushel of the Georgia LLCs in receipt of thousands of patent assets divested by Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) to that state’s monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group). Now, several of those LLCs have filed suit, with CDN Innovations, LLC opening up a wireless communications campaign; CommWorks Solutions, LLC, networking litigation; and DigiMedia Tech, LLC, a digital camera campaign. It may not be long before the others pick patents to assert in litigation of their own.

CommWorks Solutions, LLC, another NPE associated with the monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has begun its first litigation campaign, suing AMG Technology Investment (d/b/a NextLink) (2:20-cv-00160), Cable One (2:20-cv-00158), and Consolidated Communications (2:20-cv-00159) over the provision of networking hardware and software. The NPE asserts nine patents, generally related to various aspects of network communications, from among roughly 200 US assets received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in November 2019. CommWorks is one of several similarly situated plaintiffs to launch litigation this past week.

A series of annual statements filed in Georgia have identified an executive at Atlanta-based patent monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group) as an “Authorized Person” for a group of NPEs that collectively acquired thousands of patent assets from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) late last year. Meanwhile, this past week saw the first outbound assignment by one of those Georgia NPEs come to light, involving over 70 US assets—followed in short order by the new assignee’s inaugural patent suit, filed against Hyundai. Patents originating with Daimer Chrysler or Intel are among those asserted.

The late 2019 peel off by Intellectual Ventures, LLC (IV) of more than 3,500 US assets to a batch of Georgia NPEs has ousted Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC from its long-held position as the top NPE assignee of IV divestitures. Meanwhile, as discussed in RPX’s Q1 in Review blog post, throughout the first quarter, NPEs continued filing new litigation asserting patents received from IV, hitting a broad range of targets, including over patents developed by major operating companies.

Last week, RPX noted a series of late-2019 patent assignments from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) to a batch of newly formed NPEs with apparent ties to an Atlanta law firm. With additional IV divestures to that group having since been made public by the USPTO, the scope of the transactions—which collectively involved upwards of 3,500 US assets, including many developed by major operating companies—is now coming into focus.

Public records suggest that a batch of newly formed NPEs, with apparent ties to an Atlanta law firm, are gearing up to assert multiple patent portfolios received late last year from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). The transacted portfolios—which were divested by IV in mid-November—comprise hundreds of US assets, as well as a number of foreign counterparts, and include patents originating with operating companies spanning multiple industries.