AR Design Innovations, LLC, a plaintiff associated with Texas monetization firm Empire IP LLC, has filed suit against Target (2:25-cv-00299) in the Eastern District of Texas. The plaintiff asserts a single patent generally related to a client that retrieves a 3D model from a server and then allows the manipulation and placement of the model within a 3D scene to produce a photorealistic rendered image that includes certain “luminosity characteristics”. Target is accused of infringement through the provision of its mobile app, which supports the “See It in Your Space” augmented reality (AR) tool.

USPTO assignment records indicate that three entities tied to Texas monetization firm Empire IP LLC have received patent portfolios from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). The first of them, Fleet Connect Solutions LLC (FCS), received its assets in May 2020 and began suing over them that December, including in districts that impose heightened disclosure requirements on litigants. Last month, RPX reported that, according to certifications filed across those districts, “Not One Person Is Apparently Interested, Financially or Otherwise, in the Outcome of Fleet Connect’s Cases” (December 2024). Since then, FCS (represented by Rozier Hardt McDonough PLLC) has filed a series of amended certifications, providing a list of interested nonparties, beyond “None”, but FCS has yet to do so across the board, and the other Empire IP plaintiff litigating assets from IV has not amended its “none” certifications.

IoT Innovations LLC has filed a second suit against Resideo Technologies (Snap One) (2:25-cv-00022). Eight patents, familiar to the campaign, are asserted with the Eastern District of Texas complaint targeting the provision of Control4 Smart Home. Public records confirm that IoT Innovations is an Empire IP LLC plaintiff and that at least one Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) entity retains an interest in monetization proceeds from the asserted portfolio, but IoT Innovations just certified to the Central District of California, where it filed its last case, against Lutron Electronics, that there are no nonparties with a pecuniary interest in the outcome there. Insight, PLC signed that certification over a signature block containing litigation counsel Rozier Hardt McDonough PLLC.

Already in December, Fleet Connect Solutions LLC (FCS), an Empire IP LLC plaintiff, has sued Lenovo (2:24-cv-01047), Moxa (2:24-cv-01050), Olympus and OM Digital Solutions (2:24-cv-01049), Pittasoft (2:24-cv-01029), Portable Multimedia (2:24-cv-01054), and Southwest International Trucks (2:24-cv-01024), all in the Eastern District of Texas, as well as Schneider National Carriers (2:24-cv-10435), in the Central District of California. That latter district, like the Northern District of California and the Northern District of Georgia, where Fleet Connect has filed other cases, imposes heightened disclosure requirements on litigants—requirements in response to which FCS, represented in all of these districts by Rozier Hardt McDonough PLLC, has uniformly identified no “persons” having a financial or other interest in the outcome of the case.

In November, Empire IP LLC plaintiff Fleet Connect Solutions LLC (FCS) expanded its sole litigation campaign with suits against Bose (2:24-cv-00941), Comcast (2:24-cv-00961), and Murata Manufacturing (Murata Electronics North America) (2:24-cv-00964) in the Eastern District of Texas and Cox Enterprises (Cox Communications) (1:24-cv-05269) in the Northern District of Georgia. The seven asserted patents, received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), are broadly directed to wireless communications. The defendants are accused over a wide array of products, ranging from Bluetooth/Wi-Fi modules to smart speakers, that support Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11ac/b/n.

Nearby Systems LLC, a plaintiff associated with Texas monetization firm Empire IP LLC, has added cases against Truist Financial (2:24-cv-00952) and Whataburger (2:24-cv-00954) to the litigation campaign that it launched in June 2022 with suits against CVS, Deli Management, and Rent-A-Center. In the new Eastern District of Texas complaints, the plaintiff asserts three patents generally related to “displaying location-based content on a digital map” on a mobile device. The defendants are accused of infringement through the provision of mobile apps that feature maps for allowing users to locate and navigate to store locations.

One well-established monetization operation has announced the acquisition of a portfolio of patents from Innolux, while another is the recipient of yet another batch of patents assembled and divested from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). Meanwhile, a newer monetization team has picked up a set of patents from an operating company in a move suggesting that litigation over the received assets is coming.

Eastern District of Texas Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap has adopted the report of Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne recommending the denial of a Penney OpCo (d/b/a JCPenney) motion challenging patents asserted by Nearby Systems LLC, an Empire IP LLC plaintiff, against it under Alice. JCPenney argued that the claims of those patents are ineligibly directed to the abstract idea of “combining mapping data into a single map”; Judge Payne disagreed, recommending that “[w]hile the value and novelty of such a configuration is not at issue under §101, the Court is satisfied that it is sufficiently concrete to survive §101”. The court’s order likely dooms a parallel motion filed by another defendant in the campaign, Dollar General, which remains pending before Judges Payne and Gilstrap.

Ten days after suing ecobee (for the second time), IoT Innovations LLC, an Empire IP LLC plaintiff, has filed an Eastern District of Wisconsin complaint against Generac (Generac Power Systems) (2:24-cv-01178). Seven patents are asserted in the new case, with infringement allegations focused on the provision of “remote security and control platform and systems”, including the Generac Mobile Link system and related products (i.e., the Mobile Link mobile app and Mobile Link Cellular 4G LTE device), as well as the Generac EV Chargers and related products (i.e., the Generac EV Charging mobile app).

IoT Innovations LLC, an Empire IP LLC plaintiff, has sued Generac (ecobee) (2:24-cv-00729) and Resideo Technologies (Snap One) (2:24-cv-00704), both in the Eastern District of Texas. ecobee is already a defendant in this campaign, now targeted with 17 patents over the provision of its “home security and control platform and systems”, including ecobee’s smart home platform, smart thermostats, smart cameras, smart plugs and sensors, and related products and services. The Snap One complaint, the first to hit this defendant, aims seven of those patents at the provision of its various smart home and security products as provided under the brand name Control4 Smart Home.