Avayla Licensing LLC has sued NEC (2:22-cv-00459) in a new complaint filed in the Eastern District of Texas and highlighting the provision of the UNIVERGE SV9100 platform. The apparent IP Edge LLC plaintiff targets features for improving users’ video stream images in a video conference call with the sole patent-in-campaign, which issued to ZTE. This case is the ninth that Avayla has filed since July 2022, a pair of them in a district that imposes heightened disclosures on parties: October suits against Premiere Global Services (1:22-cv-04277) and Yealink (1:22-cv-04278) in the Northern District of Georgia. Local rules there require counsel for “all private (non-governmental) parties in civil cases” to file a “complete list of other persons, associations, firms, partnerships, or corporations having either a financial interest in or other interest which could be substantially affected by the outcome of the case”. Garteiser Honea, PLLC filed the Georgia complaints on Avayla’s behalf but, six weeks later, appears yet to have filed the plaintiff’s certifications.

Recent months have seen a number of patent divestments by operating companies made public, with a range of assignees including frequent filers, publicly traded patent assertion entities, third-party funded plaintiffs, and newly formed NPEs. Divestment size has also varied widely—from a single transacted patent to thousands.

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.