RPX completed a number of deals in March 2020 on behalf of its patent risk management network. The acquisitions occurred within the following market sectors: E-Commerce and Software; Mobile Communications and Devices; Networking; and Semiconductors.

This past April Zyrcuits IP LLC, an entity affiliated with monetization firm IP Edge LLC, picked up a portfolio of 30 US patents, generally related to spread-spectrum wireless data transmission, from NPE Linex Technologies, Inc. In the months since then, that portfolio has given rise to four litigation campaigns: the first by Zyrcuits IP itself (at the end of August), the second by Aperture Net LLC (at the end of September), and two more, by Hydro Net LLC and by Stormborn Technologies LLC, respectively (at the end of October). On October 24, a subset of those former Linex patents were transferred from Zyrcuits IP to new IP Edge entity Pinnacle Licensing LLC, raising the possibility that the end of November might bring yet more litigation over this portfolio.

Zyrcuits IP LLC, an NPE apparently associated with monetization firm IP Edge LLC, has expanded its smart home campaign, adding suits against Assa Abloy (3:19-cv-02317), eZLO (1:19-cv-01828), Robert Bosch (Bosch Security Systems) (1:19-cv-01827), and SengLED (1:19-cv-04393) across various districts, targeting the provision of smart home products supporting the ZigBee wireless communications standard, including, for example, the eZLO Jilia Hub and the RADION PIR ZB Wireless Motion Detector. The new suits join a campaign launched in August 2019 against five defendants, including Samsung and Spectrum Brand Holdings, with the NPE asserting a single patent generally related to spread-spectrum wireless data transmission.

Monetization firm IP Edge LLC has begun farming out the portfolio of former Linex Technologies, Inc. patents that it acquired this past April—to LLCs that presumably will soon be litigating them. Generally, the portfolio relates to various aspects of spread-spectrum wireless data transmission, with litigation already begun by Zyrcuits IP LLC, the IP Edge entity to take possession of the 30 patents. Zyrcuits IP recently launched litigation of its own from the portfolio—IP Edge’s fifteenth known campaign of 2019—by hitting Samsung, Signify, Spectrum Brands, Wink Labs, and Wirepath Home Systems (Control4). More campaigns may be coming: from Aperture Net LLC, Hydro Net LLC, and/or Stormborn Technologies LLC, each of which received at least two former Linex patents from Zyrcuits IP on September 18, 2019.

In April 2019, Zyrcuits IP LLC, an NPE apparently associated with monetization firm IP Edge LLC, picked up the bulk of the patent portfolio once held (and litigated) by Linex Technologies, Inc. Last week, Zyrcuits asserted the first of those 30 US patents, filing complaints against Signify (1:19-cv-01609), Spectrum Brands (1:19-cv-01610), Wink Labs (1:19-cv-01607), and Wirepath Home Systems (Control4) (1:19-cv-01608), in the District of Delaware and against Samsung (2:19-cv-00298) in the Eastern District of Texas. The sole asserted patent generally relates to spread-spectrum wireless data transmission, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of smart home products supporting the ZigBee wireless communications standard.

The portfolio of patents received by monetization firm IP Edge LLC from Siemens in October 2018 has now given rise to eight campaigns, with the most recent waged by plaintiff Sonohm Licensing LLC. The NPE has accused Best Buy (Great Call) (1:19-cv-01619, 1:19-cv-01620), Fry’s Electronics (2:19-cv-00297), Juniper Systems (1:19-cv-00101), and ROKit (2:19-cv-07569) of infringing up to three wireless communications patents through the provision and/or sale of various devices that use Bluetooth 4.0 technology, including various smartphones, speakers, tablets, and wireless earphones. The retailers, Best Buy and Fry’s, are accused of infringement through the sale of such products made by Amazon, ASUSTek, BLU Products, Caterpillar, CellAllure, DigiLand, Ematic, Lenovo, RugGear, and Visual Land, among others, with Best Buy’s GreatCall tagged over the provision of the Jitterbug Smart2 and Jitterbug Flip “senior cell phones”; Juniper Systems, over its “rugged” mobile devices (i.e., the CT7G, Allegro 3, and Archer 3); and ROKit, over its iO Pro 3D, 3D, Light, and One smartphones.

In late August 2019, while IP Edge LLC dropped four brand new litigation campaigns through litigating entities Aristors Licensing LLC (over a patent received from an inventor-controlled entity), Enchanted IP LLC (over a patent received from Huawei), Sonohm Licensing LLC  (over patents received from Siemens), and Zyrcuits IP LLC (over a patent received from Linex Technologies, Inc.), the Texas monetization firm also added cases across an even broader set of its many campaigns. Altair Logix LLC, Digi Portal LLC, EncodiTech LLC, Saros Licensing LLC, and Wave Linx LLC—each a Texas plaintiff associated with IP Edge—have all filed cases over the past week.