In December 2022, Entangled Media LLC asserted a pair of file sync patents against Dropbox, months after recording a security interest with apparent funder LIT-US Chisum 22-B, LLC—one of six plaintiffs to have done so. Dropbox has since fought to uncover the details of that funding arrangement in a prolonged discovery battle, and it has now partly succeeded: On April 8, Northern District of California Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi granted Dropbox’s motion to compel the production of a key funding agreement, albeit just the portions concerning the nature of the security interest Chisum has retained in Entangled Media’s patents.

All six of the entities granting to the same third party a security interest in their patent portfolios have now filed suit, Entangled Media LLC hitting Dropbox (1:22-cv-01324) in the Western District of Texas. The pair of asserted patents generally relate to “performing an operation” on a “singular file system” that synchronizes files across multiple devices, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of the Smart Sync tool in various Dropbox filesharing products.

Since late last year, multiple sets of patent holders (six at a time) have granted a security interest in their portfolios to one of three Delaware LLCs formed by the same individual. At least a dozen new patent infringement campaigns have sprung from those apparent funding relationships—and USPTO records made public this week suggest that another six are likely coming down the pike.