Silkeen LLC v. Medtronic, Inc.

The fourth NPE to receive patents formerly owned and asserted in litigation by Olivistar LLC, an entity managed by patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC, has now asserted the patent received in a third field of use. Olivistar asserted a single patent, generally related to using self-learning rules to monitor whether a measurement deviates from a previous norm and, if so, generating an alert, in a round of suits targeting fitness trackers. In August 2016, IP Edge moved the patent from Olivistar to apparent affiliate Silkeen LLC, which asserted it in another round of litigation, this one alleging infringement through the manufacture and sale of systems having environmental (i.e., temperature and humidity) sensors. Over the summer, Silkeen’s campaign has taken another turn, focusing infringement allegations on medical tracking devices, with the most recent suit hitting Medtronic (0:17-cv-04271) in the District of Minnesota.

A fourth NPE to receive patents formerly owned and asserted in litigation by Olivistar LLC, an entity managed by patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC, has now filed cases of its own. On August 31, 2016, Olivistar assigned the patent-in-suit (7,944,469) to Silkeen LLC, which has continued Olivistar’s campaign, albeit in a different market sector. Where Olivistar targeted fitness trackers, Silkeen has filed ten suits alleging infringement through the manufacture and sale of systems having environmental (i.e. temperature and humidity) sensors by defendants Cooper-Atlas, Grid Connect, L-Com, Mesa Monitoring, Monnit, National Instruments (Measurement Computing), Omega Engineering, Onset Computer, Primex Wireless, and TempAlert.