Interactive ToyBox, LLC has filed a second case in the campaign begun a year ago, suing Disney (1:17-cv-01137) over a single patent generally related to a toy with multiple pieces that interact with a microprocessor through communications broadcast in defined frequencies. The accused products are Disney’s Infinity game set, which includes an RFID-enabled base station and game pieces. The prior case, filed against Activision Blizzard over “Starter Packs” associated with that company’s Skylanders game series, was dismissed with prejudice this past April.

RPX took notice, among the USPTO assignment records made available during the latter half of April, of the transfer of patents to a number of frequent plaintiffs in patent litigation, including BlackBird Tech LLC; Intellectual Ventures LLC; IP Valuation Partners LLC; Unwired Planet International Limited, and Wi-LAN Inc. Assignors included Cypress Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, ROY-G-BIV, Samsung, and Sharp.

During April 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. April acquisitions occurred within the following market sectors: Consumer Electronics and PCs, Mobile Devices and Communications, and Semiconductors.

RPX took note of several patent asset transfers to NPEs recorded during the second half of December 2016. Assignees included Texas NPE Synergy Drone LLC, Nevada NPE Jonker LLC, and Delaware NPE Empire Technology Development LLC, and the named inventors on the different patent assets form an eclectic bunch.

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.

Interactive ToyBox, LLC has filed suit against Activision Blizzard (1:16-cv-01305), alleging infringement of a single patent (6,471,565) through the sale of “Starter Packs” associated with the Skylanders game series. The ‘565 patent generally relates to a toy with multiple pieces that interact with a microprocessor through communications broadcast in defined frequencies. The accused product is a game that includes a tablet, a base station called a “Portal” (including an RFID reader), and multiple figurines (containing passive RFID tags) that communicate with one another in order to help the player capture the villains (or “Doom Raiders”) that have apparently escaped from Cloudcracker Prison.