RPX data indicate that since 2016, NPEs have collectively launched over 80 separate litigation campaigns asserting patents received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). Meanwhile, the outflow of patents from IV persists, and divestments executed last year (primarily during the fourth quarter of 2019) continue to be recorded with the USPTO—many preceding the start of new NPE campaigns.

On the heels of new sets of suits filed against HannStar (2:20-cv-00250, 2:20-cv-00251, 2:20-cv-00252) and Truly International Holdings (Truly Semiconductors) (2:20-cv-00254, 2:20-cv-00255, 2:20-cv-00256) in the Eastern District of Texas, that venue has seen the last 2019 suits of Vista Peak Ventures LLC (VPV), against Japan Display, dismissed with prejudice in light of a settlement. VPV has been targeting TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor – liquid crystal display) panels throughout this campaign, hitting HannStar over the manufacture and sale of TFT-LCD panels incorporated into GPS devices and bridge terminals of TomTom and satellite radios of SiriusXM and hitting Truly Semiconductors over panels that are incorporated into GPS devices manufactured by Garmin. VPV, a subsidiary of Texas monetization firm Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, began asserting assets from its portfolio of former NEC patents in July 2018, roughly five months after receiving them from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV).

In the wake of settlements in its early 2019 cases, Vista Peak Ventures LLC (VPV) has filed suit against Fujifilm (2:20-cv-00064, 2:20-cv-00065, 2:20-cv-00066) over the provision of certain digital cameras that include TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor – liquid crystal display) panels manufactured by Japan Display or Wintek. Four early 2019 cases against TCL ended in October 2019; four against Giantplus, in January 2020, leaving active in the campaign only a set of three September 2019 suits filed directly against Japan Display. More than two dozen patents have been asserted, in overlapping subsets, across this campaign; VPV acquired the patents from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) as part of a larger portfolio of former NEC assets.

The last couple of years have seen Texas monetization firm Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC shift away from the acquisition of smaller families of patents from various sources toward the acquisition of large portfolios of assets—of former Kodak patents in March 2017, of former NEC patents in February 2018, and of former American Express patents in March 2018, all from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), as well as a large portfolio of assets acquired directly from Panasonic beginning in October 2018. Dominion (through subsidiaries of its litigation arm Monument Patent Holdings, LLC) has asserted patents from those large-portfolio acquisitions in litigation, and while it has continued litigating assets acquired prior to this strategy shift, that activity has dropped off. Assignment records recently made public by the USPTO suggest that, in addition, Dominion has begun to shed some of the smaller families that it had acquired under its earlier model.

Vista Peak Ventures, LLC (VPV), an affiliate of Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, has filed a notice of settlement in a set of four cases brought in October 2018 against BOE Technology Group, a Chinese manufacturer of flat-panel displays. The NPE has concurrently filed two new sets of four cases apiece, one set filed against Giantplus (2:19-cv-00183, -00184, -00185, -00187) and another set filed against TCL (2:19-cv-00188, -00189, -00190, -00191), again targeting the Chinese companies over their provision of flat-panel displays. Each defendant faces infringement allegations related to between 12 (Giantplus) and 18 (TCL) patents that VPV acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) as part of a large portfolio of former NEC assets.

Two new campaigns have arisen out of the recent large-portfolio acquisitions of Dominion Harbor Enterprises LLC. In an Eastern District of Texas complaint, Monument Peak Ventures, LLC (MPV) has tagged HMD Global (2:18-cv-00521) with three of its former Kodak patents over the provision of smartphones with dual rear cameras, as used to capture depth information and provide features like dynamic depth of field, as well as smartphones that disable certain camera features (e.g., the flash) when power is low. Meanwhile, Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC (SPV) has filed its first litigation over patents originating with Panasonic, hitting Feit Electric (2:18-cv-10069). The accused products include LED light bulbs capable of adjusting their output to produce different colors and/or different temperatures of white light. MPV’s and SPV’s campaigns join prior litigation over former NEC patents by Dominion affiliate Vista Peak Ventures, LLC (VPV); Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (LPV), the Dominion affiliate taking ownership of a former American Express portfolio, has yet to launch litigation.

In early July, Vista Peak Ventures, LLC, an affiliate of Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, filed its first cases asserting patents from a large portfolio of former NEC patents that it acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) earlier in 2018. The plaintiff targeted flat panel displays sold by either AU Optronics or Innolux, both Taiwanese manufacturers, in multiple suits filed in the Eastern District of Texas. AU Optronics has responded with a Northern District of California complaint (3:18-cv-04638) filed by AU Optronics Corporation America (AUO USA), contending that Vista Peak identified California entity AUO USA as having committed acts of infringement while naming the Chinese parent company as the suit’s defendant to “manufacture personal jurisdiction” in Texas.

Vista Peak Ventures, LLC, an affiliate of Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC, has filed its first cases asserting patents from a large portfolio of former NEC patents that it acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) earlier this year. The plaintiff has targeted flat panel displays sold by Taiwanese manufacturers AU Optronics, spread across three cases (2:18-cv-00276, -00278, -00279), or Innolux (2:18-cv-00280, -00281, -00282, -00283), spread across four cases, all filed in the Eastern District of Texas. The seven new complaints together assert 21 patents from the former NEC portfolio—a total of 13 against AU Optronics and a total of 20 against Innolux.

On April 10, the USPTO made public an assignment of over 400 patent assets from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) to Vista Peak Ventures, LLC, an affiliate of Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC. This transfer appears to be part of a larger transaction announced by Dominion in February, involving over 1,200 US and foreign LCD patents originating with NEC. Last month, Dominion announced that it had acquired from IV a portfolio of nearly 1,000 patents developed by American Express. Also in March, a Dominion affiliate (Monument Peak Ventures, LLC) began a campaign asserting former Kodak patents received from IV.

Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC announced on March 5 that it has acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) a portfolio of nearly 1,000 patent assets developed by American Express. A variety of Dominion affiliates, held through Monument Patent Holdings, LLC, have launched nearly 20 US litigation campaigns concerning a range of technologies over the past two years—including several campaigns asserting patents received from IV.