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IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group) has launched one new campaign, via affiliate Visible Connections, LLC, and expanded another, through affiliate SynchView Technologies, LLC, both over patents recently acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). As RPX noted this past May, multiple patents received from IV were passed along to Visible Connections, including two telecommunications conferencing patents originating with Spiderphone; and one patent generally related to an interface program for sharing an application program between two or more computers, developed by GTE Laboratories (which merged in 2000 with Bell Atlantic, forming Verizon). The NPE has now asserted two of those patents against ZOHO (1:18-cv-00859), zeroing in on the defendant’s provision of various products and services offering videoconferencing and screen-sharing features. Meanwhile, SynchView has added cases against Charter Communications (4:18-cv-00719) and Consolidated Communications (Consolidated Communications of Texas) (9:18-cv-00183) to the DVR campaign begun this past May.

Texas-based Akoloutheo, LLC has filed its first case outside the Eastern District of that state, suing Citrix Systems (3:18-cv-02702) in the Northern District. The NPE accuses Citrix of infringing the same patent at issue throughout the campaign, begun this past February, through the provision of network management software products, including related networking devices and apps. Dismissals with prejudice have been entered, or are imminent, in four of the five previous cases in the campaign, all brought in the Eastern District of Texas. The three cases that Akoloutheo filed to launch its second campaign, in mid-September, were also brought in the Eastern District; there, the NPE accuses CenterPoint Energy (4:18-cv-00650), Texas Energy Future Holdings (Oncor Electric Delivery Company) (4:18-cv-00653), and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (4:18-cv-00652) of infringing a second patent, broadly concerning the remote monitoring and control of utility meters.

The Federal Circuit has overturned part of a Delaware court’s ruling in a case against Google that invalidated four Acacia Research Corporation spreadsheet patents under Alice. In an October 9 decision, the Federal Circuit held that all challenged claims from two of those patents (and all but one from a third) were not directed to patent-ineligible subject matter, ruling instead that they described technical solutions and improvements to problems found in prior art computer spreadsheet systems rather than claiming the abstract idea of “using notebook-type tabs to label and organize spreadsheets”. However, the decision upheld the lower court’s invalidation of a single claim from the third patent related to spreadsheet tabs and of all challenged claims from a fourth patent related to tracking changes in spreadsheet cells. The patents at issue are among eight that have been asserted by Acacia subsidiary Data Engine Technologies LLC in a litigation campaign launched in 2012.

Hypermedia Navigation LLC, an affiliate of monetization firm IPValuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal), has sued Alphabet (Google) (4:18-cv-06137) over the manner in which various Google websites, apps, and/or services (YouTube, Google Images, Google Play Music, Google Video, Google Play Movies, the Google mobile app, and Android TV) display and offer navigation between multiple media elements (including videos, audio files, and/or images). In its newest complaint, the NPE asserts 11 of a 16-member family, 13 of which have been at issue in this campaign. Facebook is the only other active defendant after dismissals with prejudice in earlier cases against Microsoft and Verizon (Yahoo).

On October 9, iPEL, Inc., the patent licensing firm launched by patent attorney Brian Yates earlier this year, announced the filing of ten infringement suits against ASUS in China. According to a press release issued by iPEL, the lawsuits were filed in the specialized IP courts and tribunals of Beijing, Nanjing, and Xi’an. This appears to be the start of iPEL’s expected enforcement campaign in Asia, the approach of which RPX predicted back in June.

Inventor-controlled NPE M2M Solutions LLC has filed a second Delaware suit against Amazon (1:18-cv-01532) as its previous suit against the company remains stayed pending the outcome of inter partes reviews (IPRs) against the patents-in-suit. This latest complaint asserts two newer family members of those at issue in the other suit. As in that first case, the NPE again accuses Amazon of infringement through the provision of its Kindle e-reader “ecosystem”, including the company’s e-readers and the Whispernet content delivery network. The complaint alleges that Whispernet infringes through the use of machine-to-machine, or M2M, communications to push content to Kindle devices.

IP Edge LLC, which RPX data shows has cumulatively added more defendants to patent lawsuits than any other plaintiff since 2000, was relatively quiet during the first two quarters of 2018. Q3, however, saw an uptick in IP Edge activity, with various affiliates launching five new campaigns targeting a wide range of technologies.

The filing spree of Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited continues unabated after handing over the reins of its monetization efforts to Fortress Investment Group LLC earlier this year. Last week alone, plaintiffs related to these entities jointly filed a new suit against Apple in the Western District of Texas, one against Cisco, two against Hike, and four against Alphabet (Google) (2:18-cv-00423), all in the Eastern District of Texas. Since its acquisition of a large portfolio from Pendrell Corporation subsidiary Pendragon Wireless LLC this past January, Uniloc has been filing new lawsuits on nearly a weekly basis over those patents, on its own, before its transfer of over 600 US patent assets to Fortress in May, and together with Fortress since. That shift in patent ownership came as Fortress announced a new, $400M IP fund focused on patent assertion.

Following a first wave of filings in late September, hitting Huawei, LG Electronics (LGE), Samsung, and ZTE, American Patents LLC doubled its campaign during the first week of October with four separate suits against Acer, ASUS, HP, and OnePlus. The patents-in-campaign, which generally relate to communications networking, were acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in June and were each developed by a major operating company or university. The new defendants are accused of infringement through provision of devices (including laptops and smartphones) offering Google’s Chromecast streaming and keyboards with predictive text features and other features related to keyboard layout. All the campaign defendants, apart from LGE and Samsung, are also alleged to infringe through their accused devices’ support of Wi-Fi and/or cellular connectivity.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw activity in AIA reviews against a variety of familiar plaintiffs in September, including validity challenges brought in campaigns targeting wireless communications technology and mobile devices. Among the NPEs hit with petitions for inter partes review (IPR) in September were Intellectual Ventures LLC, which continues to pursue its existing litigation as it divests other parts of its portfolio; and entities controlled by Fortress Investment Group LLC and Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited, both of which have kept up a barrage of new litigation asserting former Pendrell Corporation patents. Also in September, the PTAB instituted trial in IPRs against Quarterhill Inc. and an NPE related to PanOptis Equity Holdings LLC, and issued final decisions against private plaintiffs including General Patent Corporation.