Last week, RPX raised the possibility of IP Edge LLC’s practices—specifically, the naming of Texas residents with seemingly no discernible connections to patent monetization as managers or managing members of most of its LLCs—sliding under the judicial microscope. On September 12, District of Delaware Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly ordered a handful of such individuals to appear, in person, at evidentiary hearings to determine whether a group of apparent IP Edge plaintiffs has complied with his standing order regarding the disclosure of any third-party litigation funding. A similar order has been issued in multiple cases associated with Dynamic IP Deals, LLC (d/b/a DynaIP), Judge Connolly setting an October hearing to determine the accuracy of those plaintiffs’ amended corporate disclosure statements. Perhaps unsurprisingly, voluntary dismissals have been noticed across these cases, ending the court’s jurisdiction over the matters.

Evidence of IP Edge LLC’s frequent practice of naming individuals—seemingly with no discernible connections to patent monetization—as managers or managing members of its various LLCs has long been reported by RPX. Now, with Amazon having recently brought that practice to the attention of Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly, and with a raft of amended disclosures filed on the same day last week by a handful of apparent IP Edge plaintiffs litigating before that same judge, the coming months may see the full extent of that setup, and its bearing on standing, come to light.

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.

Tekvoke LLC, an apparent IP Edge LLC plaintiff, has added suits against 3CX (8:20-cv-00721), DialogTech (1:20-cv-00452), Fuze (1:20-cv-00453), Grandstream Networks (1:20-cv-00454), PayG (d/b/a SkySwitch) (8:20-cv-00722), and Voyant Communications (1:20-cv-00455) to the litigation campaign begun last November. The NPE targets the defendants over the provision of their respective VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) platforms, including the DialogTech Conversation Intelligence, Fuze Calling, Grandstream Call Center, and Voyant UCaaS platforms, respectively. A single patent, broadly related to an Internet-based telephone system, is asserted throughout; it is one of roughly 30 former Panasonic patents that IP Edge picked up in 2017.

Tekvoke LLC, an entity apparently associated with IP Edge LLC, has begun a new litigation campaign for the Texas monetization firm, suing 8x8 (3:19-cv-07734), Dialpad (3:19-cv-07733), Digium (1:19-cv-02205), RingCentral (3:19-cv-07735), and Vonage (1:19-cv-02206). The sole patent asserted, broadly concerning an Internet-based telephone system, is one of roughly 30 former Panasonic patents that IP Edge picked up at the beginning of 2017.