In April 2013, Japanese consumer electronics maker Funai Electric announced that it had agreed to acquire the inkjet-related technology and assets of IBM-spinoff Lexmark International for roughly $100M. The announcement was followed by Lexmark’s assignment of more than 1,500 US and foreign patent assets to Funai. Now, some of those patents are being asserted by recently formed NPE Slingshot Printing LLC—which earlier this year received more than 100 US assets from Funai—with assignment records suggesting that Funai might hold an economic interest in Slingshot’s litigation.