In June 2021, Marlin Semiconductor Limited, identified as one of the portfolios of monetization firm IPValue Management (d/b/a IPValue), received over 480 US patents from United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). Earlier this month, according to USPTO assignment records made public, an additional batch of patents followed the same path. While IPValue has yet to litigate its Marlin portfolio in the US, it has sued over patents from several of its other portfolios—one of which led, just last week, to the invalidation of several, but not all, of the patents-in-suit under Alice and another of which has spawned accusations of an “untoward and actionable” provision in a “hidden” license agreement.

According to USPTO records, an Irish NPE received over 480 US patents from United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) in June of this year. Irish corporate records reflect ties between the NPE assignee and the monetization firm IPValue Management (d/b/a IPValue), which has over the years acquired thousands of patent assets directly from operating companies—including more than 1,200 assets recently received from the display business unit of Mitsubishi Electric.