Nuance Communications (2:17-cv-00890) is the first defendant in a new campaign started by Eloqui Voice Systems, LLC, a California-based NPE managed by multiple entities controlled by attorney Daniel C. Cotman. The new complaint accuses Nuance of infringing four voice assistant patents apparently acquired from an Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) subsidiary through its Nina virtual assistant platform.

With the recent imposition of sanctions in a set of cases before District Judge Rodney Gilstrap no deterrent, another NPE managed by Nicolas J. Labbit, and therefore apparently controlled by California attorney Brian Yates, has kicked off a new litigation campaign. Selective Signals, LLC has filed separate suits against Fortinet (6:17-cv-00064), Palo Alto Networks (6:17-cv-00065), Rohde & Schwartz (6:17-cv-00066), and WatchGuard Technologies (6:17-cv-00067), each of which asserts a single patent (8,111,629) not seen before in litigation. The ‘629 patent generally relates to identifying whether passing packets belong to a particular media session, and the complaints target the defendants’ network security appliances.

District Judge Rodney Gilstrap has imposed $355K in attorney fees and costs on Iris Connex, LLC, ruling that the Texas-based NPE had pursued such an objectively meritless case against defendant Dell (2:15-cv-01915) that the lawsuit was exceptional under Octane. In a 57-page opinion issued on January 25, Judge Gilstrap also ordered attorney Brian Yates to pay Dell $152K in sanctions, ruling that he had abused the corporate form by controlling the Iris Connex campaign through shell company Q Patents, Inc., failed to disclose that entity as the NPE’s parent, and then acted in bad faith in his further attempts at concealing that relationship. Finally, Judge Gilstrap imposed sanctions on Craig Tadlock, Iris Connex’s counsel, requiring him to pay $25K to the court for advancing a wholly implausible claim construction argument.

RPX took note of eleven patent transfers to NPEs recorded during the first half of November 2016. Assignees included entities controlled by Wi-LAN, Inc.; Marathon Patent Holdings, LLC; or IP Valuation Partners LLC; NPEs apparently affiliated with Intellectual Ventures LLC or Equitable IP Corporation; and entities managed by Erik Stamell, Leigh M. Rothschild, or Nicolas J. Labbit. Also this month, BlackBird Tech LLC, which has waged 11 litigation campaigns to date, acquired a patent that was asserted against 70 companies in a large NPE campaign that closed earlier this year.

USB Technologies, LLC (USB Tech) has resumed its sole litigation campaign, asserting a single patent (7,809,866) generally related to an SD memory card with built-in USB connectivity against Gigastone (8:16-cv-01334), Micron (2:16-cv-05256), PNY Technologies (2:16-cv-05259), Silicon Power Computer and Communications USA (2:16-cv-05260), and Transcend (8:16-cv-01339). These are USB Tech’s first filings since the last suits from its previous round were dismissed with prejudice in November 2015. As in the Pasadena-based NPE’s previous cases, its latest defendants are accused of infringement through the making or selling of dual-interface USB flash drives.