On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), approved by the US Supreme Court in April 2015, took effect. The amendments touch several aspects of litigation in federal court but primarily focus on earlier stages, including pleading requirements, initial case management, and the scope of discovery. The changes appear to have motivated a significant number of filings in the weeks before the effective date of the changes, as over 580 patent infringement cases, including nearly 500 NPE cases, were filed in the last two weeks of November.

Texas-based NPE Creswell Holdings LLC has filed suit against HP (4:15-cv-00807), alleging that some of its desktop keyboards infringe a single patent (6,340,803) related to computer keyboard mechanisms. This lawsuit is the second filed by Creswell in its sole litigation campaign, which began in June with a case against Lenovo (4:15-cv-00407). In that complaint, Creswell asserted the ‘803 patent along with two others (6,194,677; 6,318,695) also related to keyboard mechanisms, and the accused products were several of Lenovo’s laptop keyboards.

CYVA Research Holdings, LLC added four more defendants, bringing the total number in its litigation campaign, begun in May 2013, above 35. CYVA usually asserts one of two related patents (5,987,440, 8,195,569) that generally concern the security of personal information exchanged in an electronic community. In the past, CYVA has targeted financial institutions and online travel sites, as well as a variety of other companies providing platforms that permit the exchange of personal data (e.g. auction providers such as eBay). In this wave, CYVA has asserted the ’440 patent against Caplinked (2:15-cv-01580), HoGo (2:15-cv-01581), Intralinks (2:15-cv-01578), and OpenText (2:15-cv-01579). About a dozen cases remain open and active in the campaign.

CYVA Research Holdings sued eBay (2:14-cv-00637) for alleged infringement of a patent related to the security and exchange of personal information over the Internet (8,195,569). CYVA’s complaint accuses eBay’s website and its auction services of infringing the patent-in-suit, which is described as an “electronic bazaar” featuring personal information security. The NPE has asserted the ‘569 patent in eight lawsuits since September 2013 against online travel sites Expedia, HomeAway, Hotwire, Priceline.com, Quikbook, Roomorama, Travel Holdings, and Travelocity. CYVA is a research and development firm with a history of monetizing its patents. In the past year CYVA has also asserted a second patent in the same family (5,987,440) in seven suits targeting financial services companies. Both the ‘440 and ‘569 patents originate with CYVA. Texas public records and court documents indicate that CYVA shares the same address and suite number with at least two other NPEs including IBV Systems and RecruitMe. 5/21, Eastern District of Texas.