For years, RPX has reported on the intelligence that can be culled from public records about the approach to patent monetization by the large collection of patent plaintiffs linked to IP Edge LLC. That Texas monetization firm has never filed suit itself but has, through its associated LLCs, been the top filer by volume of NPE litigation, both for several years running and by an order of magnitude. The “Series of Extraordinary Events” currently underway—first before Delaware Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly, but now also the Federal Circuit—appears to have confirmed that body of reporting, based solely on public records, that the founders of IP Edge, through sister entity MAVEXAR LLC, have constructed a business model by which individuals with no prior, cognizable connection to patent monetization take ownership of patents, the assertion of which MAVEXAR manages—all for a small percentage of the proceeds paid back to those individuals.

Arability IP LLC, an entity apparently associated with Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC, has opened up its first campaign with suits against HTC (2:22-cv-01051), Lenovo (Motorola Mobility) (1:22-cv-03889), LG Electronics (LGE) (1:22-cv-03886), and Sony (5:22-cv-00074) over the provision of smartphones that support features for resizing the user interface. The sole patent asserted issued in March 2022 and generally relates to “adjusting a user interface (UI) on a user terminal”; the application that led to the patent was assigned to Arability IP in November 2019, together with three other issued patents, from the Industry-University Cooperation Foundation of Hangyang University.

Sunset Licensing LLC has sued Azuga (5:20-cv-02174), CalAmp (4:20-cv-00267), Marelli Holding (1:20-cv-00448), Sierra Wireless (1:20-cv-00449), Skypatrol (1:20-cv-00450), Smartrak (3:20-cv-02176), and Torre Industries (MiX Telematics) (4:20-cv-01154) in various districts. Each defendant is accused of infringing a single patent, generally related to monitoring the speed of a vehicle, through the provision of devices capable of tracking vehicle speed. With recent years past as prologue, and particularly given other recent IP Edge LLC activity, this new campaign appears to be the first of many—with USPTO assignment records suggesting that some may see patents asserted from the same source.