With investors and analysts focused on the spread of coronavirus and its impact on global economic growth, expect the chatter around litigation finance as a “recession-proof asset class” to grow louder, and interest in the industry—which is reportedly already awash with capital—to mount. Meanwhile, early 2020 has seen a number of decisions notable in the ongoing debate over the disclosure of commercial litigation funding, as well as the emergence of yet more NPEs backed by private equity.

Multipop LLC (f/k/a The Shadow Gang, LLC) has filed its first lawsuit, accusing Google (YouTube) (6:20-cv-00147) of infringing a single patent generally related to displaying content on top of a video according to a designated time and duration. The plaintiff has targeted YouTube’s support for overlaying “cards” on videos and displaying end screens for videos. State records suggest that a private equity investment firm stands behind Multipop and its new litigation.