Kevique Technology LLC has filed another wave in the long-running litigation over a single patent (7,808,483) generally related to moving graphical objects displayed on the screen of a device in response to movement of that device. The new defendants are Alco Electronics (2:17-cv-00086), JLT Mobile Computers (2:17-cv-00087), Juniper Systems (2:17-cv-00088), Lexibook (2:17-cv-00089), Linsay Digital Technology (2:17-cv-00090), NVIDIA (2:17-cv-00091), PLR IP Holdings (d/b/a Polaroid) (2:17-cv-00092), Razer (2:17-cv-00093), SOFTBANK (Sprint) (2:17-cv-00094), and T-Mobile (2:17-cv-00095). At issue in the campaign are devices with touchscreens and orientation sensors; for these latest defendants, smartphones and tablet computers that they manufacture and/or sell. (The accused product identified in the complaints against Sprint and T-Mobile is a different Kyocera smartphone.) Kevique appears to be an affiliate of patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC, which began this campaign through a separate entity, Long Corner Consumer Electronics LLC (LCCE), over three years ago.

Venus Locations LLC has filed four new lawsuits in its sole litigation campaign, asserting a single patent (6,442,485) generally related to translating GPS location data into map data against Actsoft (2:16-cv-00983), InTouch GPS (2:16-cv-00984), Omnitracs (2:16-cv-00985), and Teletrac (2:16-cv-00986). As in Venus’s first round of litigation, which targeted various companies including AT&T, LYFT, Microsoft, SOFTBANK (Sprint), T-Mobile, Trimble Navigation, and Verizon, the NPE’s latest complaints accuse the defendants of infringement through the provision of GPS, navigation, and fleet tracking services. In April 2016, Venus Locations took this campaign over from NovelPoint Tracking LLC, an NPE formed in Texas in January 2012 by Gautham (Gau) Bodepudi, Sanjay Pant, and Lillian Woung, the principals of patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC.

RPX reported an assignment, recorded in the first half of July and executed on June 27, of two computer security patents (5,434,562; 6,212,635) from NovelPoint Security LLC, an entity created by the principals of patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC, to Vortex Pathway LLC, a Texas entity created on June 21, 2016. Two months later, Vortex Pathway has now filed eight new complaints, asserting the ‘635 patent against Addonics Technologies (2:16-cv-00961), Chunghwa Telecom (2:16-cv-00956), Fortinet (2:16-cv-00952), Gemalto (2:16-cv-00953), Giesecke & Devrient (2:16-cv-00950), Goldkey (2:16-cv-00957), HID Global (2:16-cv-00954), and Yubico (2:16-cv-00955). Infringement allegations center on the defendants’ FIPS 140-2 standard compliant token security products: Addonics’s Cipher USB Token, Chunghwa’s HiKey PKI Token, Fortinet’s FortiToken 300, Gemalto’s Smart Guardian FIPS Crypto Module, G&D’s StarSign Crypto USB Token, Goldkey’s Security Token, HID’s ActivClient, and Yubico’s YubiKey.

Over the past two months, four NPEs with apparent connections to patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC have collectively filed nearly 50 patent infringement suits against operating companies. This report provides an overview of each of those four NPEs’ campaigns, which canvass a broad spectrum of defendants in multiple market sectors. Active defendants in these campaigns range from networking companies (Allied Telesis, Sophos) to retailers (1-800-Flowers, Staples), from electronics companies (Hisense, TCL) to wireless carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile).

Several weeks after dismissal of the last defendant accused of infringing a familiar patent (7,808,483) by Long Corner Consumer Electronics LLC (LCCE), new Texas NPE Kevique Technology LLC received ownership of the ‘483 patent and asserted it in a new wave of litigation. The latest nine defendants are HiSense (2:16-cv-00366), Honeywell (2:16-cv-00367), Janam Technologies (2:16-cv-00368), Matsunichi Digital (2:16-cv-00369), MiTAC (Getac) (2:16-cv-00365), Motorola Solutions (2:16-cv-00370), Supersonic (2:16-cv-00371), TCL (TCT Mobile) (2:16-cv-00372), and Zebra Technologies (2:16-cv-00373). The ‘483 patent generally relates to moving graphical objects displayed on the screen of a device in response to movement of that device. At issue in the campaign are devices with touchscreens and orientation sensors.