Recently recorded patent assignments made public by the USPTO contain noteworthy transfers to multiple plaintiffs now in litigation, including a new source of patents for Apex Beam Technologies LLC, a new source of patents for Pantech Corporation, and a familiar source of patent rights for Crystal Leap Zrt, this time assigning patents directly, though. Movement can also be seen from troubled patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC, as well as movement from various sources to patent broker Allied Security Trust. Take a look.

USPTO records indicate that in May, an entity associated with Allied Security Trust (AST) assigned a portfolio of wireless networking patents to a recently formed Texas NPE. The transacted portfolio originates with Empire Technology Development LLC—a subsidiary of Allied Inventors Management, LLC (AIM)—and the NPE now holding the portfolio is controlled by a familiar name in patent monetization.

Among the patent transactions made public by the USPTO during the second week of January was an acquisition by Intellectual Discovery Co. Ltd., involving two automotive portfolios.

RPX took note, among the USPTO assignment records made available during the first half of May, of the transfer of patents to frequent plaintiffs Leigh M. Rothschild and IP Valuation Partners (both of which received patents from Intellectual Ventures LLC) and BlackBird Tech LLC. RPX also took note of transfers of patents from multiple assignors to an NPE controlled by patent attorney Brian Yates—a California attorney revealed, by a January sanctions ruling in Texas, as controlling more entities than previously thought. Also among the noted transactions are outbound assignments by Panasonic, Pantech, and ZTE, and a transfer from Allied Security Trust’s Industry Patent Purchase Program involving former IBM and Nokia patents.

Roughly one year after the last of the eight cases that Novocrypt LLC filed in February 2015 was dismissed, the NPE has revived its sole litigation campaign with a second wave. Novocrypt has filed new cases against ASUS (5:16-cv-00108), BLU Products (5:16-cv-00109), Coolpad Technologies (5:16-cv-00110), Kyocera (5:16-cv-00111), Lenovo (Motorola Mobility) (5:16-cv-00112), and Nokia (5:16-cv-00113), accusing the defendants of infringement through the sale of smartphones or tablets. A single patent (7,743,213), generally related to a portable storage device with network capability, is again asserted in these recent complaints, but the focus on smartphones and tablets, although predicted over a year ago, is new.

Texas NPE Peppermint Hills LLC has asserted a single patent (8,131,217) generally related to identifying a device via Bluetooth against Adidas, AliphCom, Garmin, Nike, Pebble Technology, Sigma Sport, Timex, TomTom, and Under Armour. The defendants are accused of infringement through provision of smartwatches and other wearable computing devices. Peppermint’s complaints mark the third time an NPE has asserted a former TeliBrahma Technologies patent acquired from Allied Security Trust (as Cactus Flower) on the same day in 2015.

In the second half of April 2016, RPX saw eleven patent transfers to known NPEs recorded with the USPTO.

In the second half of September 2015, RPX saw 10 patent transfers to non-practicing entities (NPEs) recorded with the USPTO. Additionally, in the past month, RPX recorded the assignment of patents from one inventor-controlled company and one university.

In the first half of August 2015, RPX saw 14 patent transfers to non-practicing entities recorded with the USPTO.

For the first half of April, RPX saw 20 transfers of patents recorded with the USPTO.