AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, an Ascend Innovation Management, LLC plaintiff, has asserted seven former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) patents in an Eastern District of Texas complaint against Keyence (2:24-cv-00438). Targeted is the provision of vision systems and related products used for code reading, including the “(1) Keyence CV-X400 Series Intuitive Vision System; (2) Keyence SR-1000 series Autofocus 1D and 2D Code Reader; (3) Keyence SR-1000 Series Autofocus Reader & AutoID Network Navigator; (4) Keyence AutoID Network Navigator Software”.

Last September, ThinkLogix, LLC filed its first case, suing Crestron Electronics (4:23-cv-00844) in the Eastern District of Texas over six patents from a portfolio of roughly 100 former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) assets. In response, Crestron filed counterclaims that also named Ascend Innovation Management, LLC (AIM); Ascend IP, LLC; and Mind Fusion, LLC as parties to the litigation, Crestron pleading that the veteran IV figures behind these entities structured them “as part of a basically unfair device to achieve an inequitable result” and that ThinkLogix “does not have sufficient capital to operate its business, including patent maintenance fees and satisfying any liabilities that ThinkLogix may incur during litigation from adverse decisions”. The suit against Crestron ended in a dismissal with prejudice before any response from ThinkLogix—or from the other third-party counterclaim defendants. Last month, ThinkLogix moved on, suing VTech (6:24-cv-00206), this time in the Western District of Texas.

Slyde Analytics LLC, a funded Ascend Innovation Management, LLC (AIM) plaintiff, has filed a fourth complaint in its smartwatch campaign, suing Apple (2:24-cv-00331) in the Eastern District of Texas, where litigation is already underway against Samsung (sued in February 2023 over four patents), Zepp Health (sued in April 2023 over seven patents), and Garmin (March 2024, nine patents). Apple is accused of infringing 11 patents through the provision of smartwatches and related products, including smartphones, with an emphasis on features related to athletic performance metric tracking, displays, and power management.

Crystal Mountain Communications, LLC has sued Coolpad Group (Yulong Computer Telecommunications Scientific) (4:24-cv-00308) and OnePlus (4:24-cv-00309) over a wide array of devices, including devices that utilize 4G modems or Wi-Fi, as well as smartphones and tablets that support “portable digital video player” and “geographic tracking” capabilities. In these new Eastern District of Texas complaints, the Ascend Innovation Management, LLC plaintiff asserts subsets of its portfolio of former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) patents, subsets that overlap with those asserted in the cases that launched this campaign, filed against Diamond Creek Global (TP-Link Corporation) and TP-Link Technologies, D-Link, and Unizyx (Zyxel).

In addition to the announced divestiture of a large tranche of VoIP patents from Avaya to Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, March 2024 saw several other operating companies—including DXC Technology, Huawei, and SOLiD—unload patent assets. Several NPE enterprises also moved patents around, internally or to other NPEs, seemingly in preparation for new assertion campaigns.

Byteweavr, LLC, an Ascend Innovation Management, LLC plaintiff, has filed its first litigation, suing Cloudera (1:24-cv-00261) in the Western District of Texas and Databricks (2:24-cv-00162) in the Eastern District of Texas over the provision of their various data management and analytics products, including the Cloudera Data Platform and Databricks Lakehouse platform, respectively. The asserted patents, of disparate origins, arrived indirectly in the plaintiff’s possession from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV).

Crystal Mountain Communications, LLC has filed its first litigation, suing Diamond Creek Global (TP-Link Corporation) and TP-Link Technologies (4:24-cv-00098), D-Link (4:24-cv-00099), and Unizyx (Zyxel) (4:24-cv-00100) in the Eastern District of Texas over devices, including access points, that include features such as support for Wi-Fi 6 and the incorporation of 5G modems. Three wireless communications—two developed by Nokia; one, at Defywire; and all three passing through Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV)—are asserted against each defendant.

The first litigation of Gamehancement LLC over former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) patents transferred to it by Mind Fusion LLC earlier this year has been a barrage. The defendants—Accton Technology (Edgecore Networks) (2:23-cv-00569), Akamai Technologies (6:23-cv-00829), Analog Devices (2:23-cv-00566), Broadcom (6:23-cv-00839), Canva (6:23-cv-00840), Dropbox (6:23-cv-00830), Fortinet (2:23-cv-00570), Garmin (6:23-cv-00841), Infineon (6:23-cv-00843), INKA Entworks (2:23-cv-00572), Kenko Tokina (2:23-cv-00574), Kudelski (2:23-cv-00575), MediaTek (6:23-cv-00844), Ricoh (6:23-cv-00838), Siemens (6:23-cv-00831), and Sophos (2:23-cv-00580)—have each been sued in either the Eastern or Western District of Texas over a wide array of products, ranging from camera lenses to networking solutions.

November 2023 saw Musicqubed Innovations, LLC begin its first litigation over a portfolio of former Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) patents. The Ascend Innovation Management, LLC plaintiff started the month by suing Nexstar Media and The CW Network (2:23-cv-00514) and ended it by hitting Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) (Redbox Automated Retail) (2:23-cv-00514), both in the Eastern District of Texas and each over its respective mobile app and website. Multiple features are in the crosshairs, including those related to casting media content (e.g., over Chromecast); the use of “content protection and encryption functions”; certain web user interface elements; offline media viewing; media content rental and purchase; and live TV services. While MusicQubed received six of the eight asserted patents from IV, two of them came through an earlier deal, directly from the source of those patents.

Amid a recent bustle of internal Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) assignment activity is one clear divestiture. In early October, two IV entities assigned a combined 145 patent assets to AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC. The recipient, formed in Texas the prior month, has yet to file suit over its new holdings, but given its connections—to two IV veterans and their growing web of patent plaintiffs—it appears to be just a matter of time.