On March 21, 2019, individual inventor Bao Tran assigned to California entity Rondevoo Technologies, LLC a portfolio that includes 16 US patents generally related to “nano” sensors, circuit elements, packaging, and genetic engineering. That same day, Tran assigned to Eloqui Voice Systems, LLC (EVS) a set of three US patents, two of them generally pertaining to speech recognition systems, and the third, to a “smart system powered by a light socket”. Both Rondevoo and EVS can be traced through Red Dragon Innovations, LLC to attorney Daniel C. Cotman of Cotman IP. With both Rondevoo and EVS already in litigation, over patents acquired separately, these latest transfers suggest that more campaigns or cases may be coming.

Nuance Communications (2:17-cv-00890) is the first defendant in a new campaign started by Eloqui Voice Systems, LLC, a California-based NPE managed by multiple entities controlled by attorney Daniel C. Cotman. The new complaint accuses Nuance of infringing four voice assistant patents apparently acquired from an Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) subsidiary through its Nina virtual assistant platform.