American Patents LLC has again expanded its wireless connectivity campaign, adding Western District of Texas suits against Marvell and NXP Semiconductor (6:22-cv-00771), ON Semiconductor (6:22-cv-00772), Qualcomm (6:22-cv-00774), and Renesas Electronics (6:22-cv-00773) in July after suing Broadcom, MediaTek, Realtek Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments in the Eastern District of Texas in June. The complaints target the provision of a wide array of products—including certain systems-on-chip, baseband chips, chipsets, modems, and development kits—over their support of IEEE 802.11n and above and/or LTE as well as Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO), naming the above companies as defendants and including long lists of electronics resellers as induced parties.

American Patents LLC has filed a round of new cases in its first and only active litigation campaign, suing Broadcom (4:22-cv-00477), MediaTek (4:22-cv-00478), Realtek Semiconductor (4:22-cv-00479), and Texas Instruments (4:22-cv-00480) in the Eastern District of Texas. The asserted patents are broadly directed to wireless communications, with the defendants accused of infringement through the provision of a wide array of products (e.g., chipsets, modules, multimedia solutions, router solutions, and SoCs) that support the IEEE 802.11n and/or LTE networking standards.

Advantech (6:21-cv-01331), Grande Communications (6:21-cv-01332), Legrand (6:21-cv-01333), Mofi Network (6:21-cv-01334), Moxa (6:21-cv-01335), Telit Communications (6:21-cv-01336), and Viasat (6:21-cv-01337) have all become the latest defendants sued in the first, and largest, litigation campaign of American Patents LLC, Epson America (8:21-cv-02102), already involved in the campaign, also filing a complaint seeking declaratory judgments of noninfringement of the same four patents asserted throughout. The new cases cap a 2021 that saw cases filed earlier in the year over the same portfolio, received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), against CalAmp, Continental, Edimax Computer (Edimax Technology) Lanner Electronics, Motorola Solutions, Newell Brands (BRK Brands), Plantronics (Polycom), Seiko Epson, Sierra Wireless, Xerox, and Zebra Technologies.The campaign’s accused products spans a wide variety of devices (e.g., modules, routers, telematics solutions, transceivers, vehicle-mounted computers, etc.), all targeted over their support of 802.11n and above Wi-Fi connectivity and/or LTE.

American Patents LLC has filed a round of new cases in its only active litigation campaign, suing Continental (6:21-cv-00635), Newell Brands (BRK Brands) (6:21-cv-00636), Sierra Wireless (6:21-cv-00637), Xerox (6:21-cv-00638), and Zebra Technologies (6:21-cv-00639), all in the Western District of Texas. The plaintiff asserts four patents, generally related to interactions between smart devices and communication networks, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of a wide variety of devices (e.g., modules, routers, telematics solutions, transceivers, vehicle-mounted computers, etc.) that support wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi and/or cellular).

American Patents LLC has added four suits to its lone active litigation campaign. The NPE accuses the defendants—AirTies, Altice (Cequel Communications), Cablevision (CSC Holdings), Charter Communications (Spectrum Golf Coast), Commscope (ARRIS), and Sagemcom (4:20-cv-00903); Compal (Arcadyan Technology) and DISH Network (4:20-cv-00905); JVC Kenwood (4:20-cv-00906); and Synology (4:20-cv-00907)—of infringement through the provision of a wide variety of devices (e.g., access points, entertainment systems, gateways, mesh routers, and receivers) that support wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi and cellular).

Roughly two weeks after suing Arista Networks, Extreme Networks, and Roku in the Western District of Texas, American Patents LLC has added cases against Comcast (6:20-cv-00780) and Sonim Technologies (6:20-cv-00781) there. The plaintiff asserts the same four patents, generally related to interactions between smart devices and communication networks, against both defendants, adding a fifth patent against Sonim alone. The complaints target the provision of devices that support Wi-Fi and/or cellular connectivity: for Comcast, of certain Xfinity branded gateways and mesh Wi-Fi devices; and for Sonim, of certain phones, smartphones, and smartphone deployment kits.

For the latest round of suits in its oldest litigation campaign, American Patents LLC has turned—as many other NPEs recently have—to the Western District of Texas, filing one suit against each of Arista Networks (6:20-cv-00740), Extreme Networks (6:20-cv-00741), and Roku (6:20-cv-00742) there. Four patents, acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) and already at issue in the campaign, are asserted against the defendants over their provision of devices that support certain Wi-Fi standards: for Arista, the provision of C-260, C-250, and C-130 access points; for Extreme Networks, the AP 510i/e, 505i, and AP460C access points; and for Roku, the Ultra, Ultra LT, and Streaming Stick streaming devices.

In late December, Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) assigned a portfolio of over 130 US assets to a Texas entity with ties to several litigating NPEs, including American Patents LLC—which has three active campaigns asserting IV divestitures. The transacted portfolio includes patents originating with major operating companies and generally relates to semiconductors; it also looks likely to appear in litigation soon.

In late December, Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) assigned a portfolio of over 50 US assets to a Texas entity with ties to several litigating NPEs, including American Patents LLC—which has three active campaigns asserting IV divestitures. The transacted portfolio includes patents originating with major operating companies and generally relates to semiconductors; it also looks likely to appear in litigation soon.

This year has seen the continued outflow of assets from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), including to NPEs, with IV at times retaining an economic interest in the assertion of its divestitures. Meanwhile, new NPE cases involving former IV assets continue to be filed in droves, and IV shows no signs of tightening up the spigot.