The last couple of years have seen Texas monetization firm Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC shift away from the acquisition of smaller families of patents from various sources toward the acquisition of large portfolios of assets—of former Kodak patents in March 2017, of former NEC patents in February 2018, and of former American Express patents in March 2018, all from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), as well as a large portfolio of assets acquired directly from Panasonic beginning in October 2018. Dominion (through subsidiaries of its litigation arm Monument Patent Holdings, LLC) has asserted patents from those large-portfolio acquisitions in litigation, and while it has continued litigating assets acquired prior to this strategy shift, that activity has dropped off. Assignment records recently made public by the USPTO suggest that, in addition, Dominion has begun to shed some of the smaller families that it had acquired under its earlier model.

Landmark Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, has filed suit against Electronic Arts (3:17-cv-04121) over a family of two patents (6,018,720; 6,856,966), generally related to accounting for the purchase and delivery of a product (here, gaming software) over a network. The NPE’s latest lawsuit comes on the heels of a joint stipulated dismissal (with prejudice) of its last open case, a suit against Valve, which had been transferred in May from the Eastern District of Texas to the Western District of Washington in light of TC Heartland.

During May 2017, RPX completed four deals on behalf of its patent risk management network, obtaining rights to the patents involved either to end litigation against its members or to prevent it in the first place. May acquisitions occurred within the following market sectors: E-Commerce and Software, Mobile Communications and Devices, Media Content and Distribution, and Consumer Electronics and PCs.

Landmark Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, has filed a second case to the litigation campaign that it began in December 2016, adding Sony (6:17-cv-00107) to prior defendant Valve (6:16-cv-01382). Both complaints assert two patents (6,018,720; 6,856,966) generally related to accounting for the purchase and delivery of a product (here, gaming software) over a network. The NPE accuses the defendants of infringement through the operation of their entertainment platforms (PlayStation/PlayStation Store and Steam, respectively). Valve has filed a motion to dismiss for improper venue (explicitly to preserve its rights in advance of a US Supreme Court ruling in the TC Heartland case) or, in the alternative, to transfer venue to the Western District of Washington, which, Valve notes, is connected to Japan by multiple direct flights to Seattle.

The transfer of multiple patents from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) on October 28, 2016 to various subsidiaries of Monument Patent Holdings, LLC formed the bulk of recorded assignments seen by RPX during the first half of December. A first of those subs (Preferential Networks IP, LLC) has already asserted one of the patents that it received in litigation, while the other two (Equalizer IP, LLC and Wireless Switch IP, LLC) have yet to file suit. Monument recently recorded the assignment of two e-commerce patents to its Landmark Networks, LLC subsidiary, which also just filed suit, as have NPEs Interactive ToyBox, LLC and Vesper Technology Research, LLC, both of which likewise recorded the assignment of patents asserted in early December.

Monument Patent Holdings, LLC has initiated another new campaign, this one through its Landmark Networks, LLC subsidiary. The NPE has asserted two patents (6,018,720; 6,856,966), accusing Valve (6:16-cv-01382) of infringement through the operation of its Steam entertainment platform. The patents-in-suit generally relate to accounting for the purchase and delivery of a product (here, gaming software) over a network.