In the first half of May 2016, RPX saw nine patent transfers to NPEs recorded with the USPTO. At least three of those transactions involved patents that have already been asserted in litigation against operating companies.

A Delaware district judge invalidated claims of two Walker Digital patents, ruling those asserted against Google and eight other companies are invalid due to lack of patentable subject matter. Wednesday’s decision stems from a suit filed by Walker Digital in 2011 against nine defendants including Facebook, Friendster, Google, LinkedIn, Myspace, News Corp., and Tagged. Walker Digital accused defendants’ social networking products of infringing two of its patents related to anonymous communication (5,884,270, 5,884,272). As of June 2013, all the defendants except Google had exited the case and, according to court documents, had signed license agreements with Walker Digital.

April 19, 2012 – On April 6, 2012, the USPTO recorded the assignment of 14 gaming and audio signal storage patents from Walker Digital [NPE] to Zynga. During 2011, Walker Digital filed three separate lawsuits against Zynga for alleged infringement of four gaming-related patents. (The assignment to Zynga did not include any of the patents asserted in the suits.) Motions to dismiss Zynga from the three suits were filed April 2, 2011- four days before the recordation of the patent assignments.

Walker Digital has unleashed a torrent of litigations against E-Commerce and Software, Consumer Electronics and PCs, Mobile Communications and Devices, and Networking companies. Walker Digital, the company led by Priceline founder, Jay Walker, holds a large number of patents that the company has tried to sell in recent years. Many of the patents are variations on Priceline’s “reverse auction” concept. Walker Digital, presently represented by Andrew Spangenberg’s IP Navigation, has filed 19 suits in the past two weeks against a total of 167 defendants. RPX clients named as defendants include: Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Dell, eBay, Google, HP, LG, Microsoft, Oracle, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Verizon, and Zynga.

Walker Digital [NPE] files suit against Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Amazon, and Vibrant Media over one patent related to a method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user. 4/26, District of Delaware, 1:2011cv00369.

Walker Digital [NPE] files suit against 2K Sports, Microsoft, Sony and 13 others over two patents related to a database driven online distributed tournament system. 4/25, District of Delaware, 1:2011cv00368.

Walker Digital [NPE] files suit against Apple and five others over one patent related to a system and method for supplying supplemental information for video programs. 4/21, District of Delaware, 1:2011cv00363.

Walker Digital [NPE] files suit against Google over four patents related to online settlement and purchasing systems. 4/21, District of Delaware, 1:2011cv00361.

Walker Digital [NPE] files suit against Amazon over one patent related to a system for facilitating the sale of a product online. 4/22, District of Delaware, 1:2011cv00362.