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 week saw multiple new cases centered around workplace communication and collaboration platforms, with Kaleasy Tech LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC, suing Citrix (Podio) (1:20-cv-00266) over the provision of its project management system and China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center (Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE)) (1:20-cv-00265) over the provision of ALE Rainbow, a cloud-based collaboration system. Meanwhile, Slack filed suit (3:20-cv-01509) against Phoji, seeking a declaratory judgment that its instant messaging platform does not infringe a patent that Phoji has been bringing to its attention in a series of communications begun last June. Closing a circle of sorts, these new cases arrive as Slack has filed a motion to dismiss a case brought against it last November—by Kaleasy Tech—challenging that patent, acquired from Huawei, under Alice.

Enchanted IP LLC, a Texas entity associated with monetization firm IP Edge LLC, has begun a campaign over a single patent generally concerning an external battery that can use a “detection terminal” to charge or discharge. The defendants are Hon Hai (Belkin) (2:19-cv-07572) and ZAGG (Mophie) (8:19-cv-01648), each sued in the Central District of California; Sunvalleytek International d/b/a RAVpower (3:19-cv-05513) and Tenergy (3:19-cv-05512) in the Northern District of California; Anker Innovations (1:19-cv-01632) in the District of Delaware; and Procter & Gamble (Duracell) (1:19-cv-11858), sued in the District of Massachusetts, with the plaintiff naming in its complaints the companies’ portable chargers: the Belkin Pocket Power, the Mophie Juice Pack Reserve, the RAVPower Power Bank, the Tenergy TB6AC, Anker’s PowerCore+, and the Duracell Powerbank, respectively. IP Edge received the sole patent-in-suit as part of a larger acquisition, involving roughly a dozen US assets, from Huawei.

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.

As reported last week, IP Edge LLC recently assigned a single patent generally related to sharing “presence information” to affiliate Kaleasy Tech LLC, an entity the Texas monetization firm had formed in early June. Kaleasy has now filed suit, hitting Avaya (1:19-cv-01170), Fuze (1:19-cv-01169), Mitel Networks (1:19-cv-01167), and Vonage (1:19-cv-01168), all in the District of Delaware, and NEC (3:19-cv-01555) in the Eastern District of Texas, over the provision of certain enterprise communication systems (e.g., video conferencing and chat services), including Equinox Meetings, Fuze Conferencing and Collaboration System, MiCollab, Vonage MobileConnect, and NEC UNIVERGE 3C, respectively.

As reported by RPX earlier this year, prolific NPE IP Edge LLC picked up a portfolio of patent assets from Huawei in February 2019. In the past three months, the Texas-based monetization firm has farmed out some of the former Huawei patents to newly created entities in that state, several of which—Bexley Solutions LLC; Devine Licensing LLC; Saros Licensing LLC; and Theta Chip LLC—have since begun litigating them. Public records indicate that more litigation stemming from that February transaction is likely coming soon.