As IP Edge LLC continues its usual month-end onslaught of new filings—including a handful involving a former Panasonic patent, and nine more over former ZTE patents—USPTO records suggest that the monetization firm has several patent portfolios lined up for future assertion. Meanwhile, other IP Edge moves indicate that the firm’s monetization strategies may continue to evolve beyond short-lived cases filed and dismissed in bulk.

Public records reflect a rash of NPE creation in recent months, including by some of the most active patent monetizers in the IP space today. If past practices are precedent, patent assignments to these recently formed NPEs are likely in the pipeline—followed by the launch of new litigation campaigns later this year.

So far this year, perennial top filer IP Edge LLC has remained firmly atop the NPE plaintiff heap, continuing to file myriad complaints, most of them at month-end, across many of its now 130+ litigation campaigns. Among its 2021 litigation activity have been eight new campaigns, asserting patents picked up from a variety of sources, including other NPEs (e.g., Empire Technology Development LLC, Mantis Messaging, Inc., Monterey Research, LLC), a sovereign patent fund (IP Bridge, Inc.), and operating companies (e.g., Kyocera); if recent assignment activity is any indication, May’s activity may include another source for litigated IP Edge patents: a university.