Evolve Interactive LLC, an NPE associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has added a case against LG Electronics (LGE) (2:21-cv-18412) to its hospitality streaming campaign, begun last July as part of a burst of 2020 activity. The same patent, generally related to streaming audio/visual data from a remote server to a networked device, is at issue with infringement allegations in the new complaint focused on the provision of the LG Pro:Centric Direct hospitality IPTV system. In 2021, Endpoint IP’s activity appears to have slowed.

Public records reflect a rash of NPE creation in recent months, including by some of the most active patent monetizers in the IP space today. If past practices are precedent, patent assignments to these recently formed NPEs are likely in the pipeline—followed by the launch of new litigation campaigns later this year.

For the fourth time since 2015, Universal Entertainment (f/k/a Aruze), a Japanese arcade and video game manufacturer, has assigned a US patent to an entity associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC for assertion in litigation. Gallio IP LLC received a patent, broadly directed to a “data output system” for controlling access to electronic data by detecting identification codes within a “predetermined range”, in April, suing Xerox (6:20-cv-00667) in the Western District of Texas just this past week.

Evolve Interactive LLC, a plaintiff associated with monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has launched a new litigation campaign, filing suit against Hilton (6:20-cv-00654), Hyatt (6:20-cv-00655), and Marriott (Starwood) (6:20-cv-00656) over the use of IPTV—specifically, the installation of AT&T’s DIRECTV for Hotels throughout their respective hotels. At issue are features for integrating televisions in multiple guest rooms to a “single COM3000 head end system” for streaming.

Oceana Innovations LLC, a plaintiff associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has added a Northern District of Texas case against JVC Kenwood (3:20-cv-01613) to the litigation campaign that it began by suing first Roku and then Charter Communications in the Western District of Texas last month. The defendants are accused of infringement through the provision of devices with an HDMI Type-A connector and cable, the new complaints naming the DLA-NX9 projector. The sole asserted patent generally relates to a particular electrical connector assembly, has seen previous litigation by a different plaintiff, and is the subject of a curious transfer of rights dated in mid-April 2020.

Spam Blocker LLC has filed suit in the Western District of Texas against LG Electronics (6:20-cv-00513), asserting four patents generally related to a device that forwards lower-priority phone calls to voicemail without alerting the user about them. The NPE, a plaintiff associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, targets the provision of smartphones that offer a Do Not Disturb mode, charting the LG V60 ThinQ as “illustrative”.

Yet another NPE associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC has initiated new litigation, Oceana Innovations LLC having filed suit against Roku (6:20-cv-00399) in the Western District of Texas this past week. The patent-in-suit, however, has been asserted before, by Interface Linx, LLC, an NPE associated with Brian Yates, in a relatively uneventful campaign running between April 2017 and June 2019. The patent generally relates to a particular electrical connector assembly, with infringement allegations against Roku targeting devices with an HDMI Type A connector and cable, identifying as an example of such a device the Roku Express.

Eighth Street Solutions LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has filed its first suits, targeting Sophos (6:20-cv-00393) and Trend Micro (6:20-cv-00943) over cybersecurity software platforms that protect against “electronic threats such as viruses, ransomware, [and] malware”. The plaintiff asserts three patents generally related to controlling attempts to write data on a “storage medium” of a computer. Eighth Street’s is the fourth litigation campaign launched in 2020 by Endpoint IP, with other activity suggesting that more litigation controlled by the firm may be coming.

Pixmarx IP LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has filed its first lawsuit, hitting Snap (3:20-cv-01157) over the lens feature on its platform for pasting stickers on or applying filters to photos. The plaintiff asserts four patents, generally related to embedding digital content during the capture of a photograph with a “wireless communication device”, with original development work conducted by named inventors Barry C. Crutchfield and Gary M. Lipps at Pixmarx the Spot, which has offered an app for placing stickers on smartphone photographs.

Tactus Technologies LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm Endpoint IP LLC, has filed suit against Samsung (2:20-cv-00035), alleging infringement of the same patent—generally related to a mobile device authentication system that uses “user-defined” touch gestures—previously asserted against LG Electronics (LGE) and ZTE. The plaintiff again targets the Pattern Lock feature offered by Android mobile devices.