In December, RPX noted an assignment directly from Siemens to an Irish NPE associated with the monetization firm Atlantic IP Services Limited. Since then, another transfer of Siemens patents to the same assignee has appeared among USPTO records—this one having passed through Marathon Patent Group, Inc. and Fortress Investment Group LLC before landing in Atlantic IP’s hands.

Briefing has completed in a motion to stay filed by Amazon in a Northern District of New York case brought against it by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and CF Dynamic Advances LLC (a Fortress Investment Group LLC subsidiary). Amazon has asked District Judge Brenda K. Sannes to stop the New York proceedings to await the outcome of a Texas state court action filed to resolve a dispute over the ownership of the asserted patent (as well as several others) between Fortress and prior exclusive licensee Dynamic Advances, LLC, an entity affiliated with Erich Spangenberg. The motion follows Amazon’s answer, filed after denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss or transfer, in which Judge Sannes hinged venue on the presence of Amazon Lockers in the New York district—not on the presence of Whole Foods stores.

Marathon Patent Group, Inc. released its 2018 year-end financials on March 25, revealing just $2.6M in cash on hand as of December 31. Marathon’s 10-K also sheds new light on the NPE’s arrangements with Fortress Investment Group LLC, to which Marathon relinquished a portfolio of patents in 2017, including one now being litigated by Fortress against Amazon.

A fight between Fortress Investment Group LLC and Erich Spangenberg over the transfer of a single patent already in active litigation has broken out, first into federal court and now into New York state court. The patent is one among many relinquished by Marathon Patent Group, Inc. to Fortress last year after the NPE failed to repay Fortress $15.99M in debt financing. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) developed the patent, which a Fortress entity is currently asserting against Amazon; the patent was also the subject of litigation against Apple that ended in a reported $24.9M settlement in 2016. Court filings in connection with the dispute between Fortress and Spangenberg shed light on the millions of dollars at stake in the monetization of patents that Marathon was forced to hand over.

Notable among the patent transactions recently made public by the USPTO is a transfer from Marathon Patent Group, Inc. to Fortress Investment Group LLC, in satisfaction of a prior debt, and multiple assignments between Samsung and Unwired Planet International Ltd.

The second quarter of 2017 saw the financial decline of three publicly traded NPEs—Crossroads Systems, Inc.; Marathon Patent Group, Inc.; and Inventergy Global, Inc.—all of which have struggled in the aftermath of agreements signed with Fortress Investment Group LLC.

Marathon Patent Group, Inc. entered into a termination and release agreement on August 3 with Erich Spangenberg, whom it had hired in 2016 as its Director of Acquisitions, Licensing, and Strategy. Spangenberg’s departure came as Marathon was approaching an August 15 deadline, under which it was to repay Fortress Investment Group LLC $15.99M according to a debt restructuring plan signed in May. With Q1 revenue of just $78K, and with roughly $500K cash on hand going into Q2, it is not surprising that Marathon has now begun relinquishing patents to Fortress.

Per a recently signed debt restructuring plan, publicly traded NPE Marathon Patent Group, Inc. has three months to pay Fortress Investment Group LLC over $15M. With just around $500K cash on hand, Marathon—which on May 15 reported Q1 2017 revenue of just $78K—may be hard pressed to find the funds needed to meet that deadline.

Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC (DHE), an affiliate of patent monetization firm Dominion Harbor Group, LLC (DHG), has formed a new European licensing partnership with Swedish IP brokerage and consulting firm Parallel North IP AB. In a press release issued on May 3, DHE announced that it will work with Parallel North IP to monetize the portfolio of former Kodak imaging patents that DHG subsidiary Monument Peak Ventures, LLC acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in February. DHE describes the deal with Parallel North IP as part of a “comprehensive global plan to commercialize” the Kodak portfolio.

During April 2017, RPX completed four deals on behalf of its patent risk management network, obtaining rights to the patents involved either to end litigation against its members or to prevent it in the first place. April acquisitions occurred within the following market sectors: Consumer Electronics and PCs, Mobile Devices and Communications, and Semiconductors.