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.

On December 7, 2021, administrative law judge David P. Shaw issued a final initial determination, not yet made public but served on the parties, in the International Trade Commission (ITC) action brought by Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC against CommScope, HP Enterprise (HPE) (Aruba Networks), and NETGEAR. In a departure from its typical litigation practices, IP Edge filed the ITC complaint, through Q3 Networking LLC, in September 2020 over several patents acquired from Siemens. Several months after a summer evidentiary hearing, ALJ Shaw has determined that no violation of Section 337 occurred.

As recently reported by RPX in its Q3 in Review, patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC added over 150 defendants to litigation during the third quarter of 2021. Also during Q3, IP Edge—which over the years has followed the typical playbook of a file-and-settle NPE, litigation volume aside—took its first case to trial. Meanwhile, public records reflect the continued creation of yet more IP Edge entities in Texas and also hint at possible plans for filing litigation in China.

As part of a late July filing spree of Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC, associated plaintiff Wave Linx LLC sued BigMarker (1:21-cv-01086), Five9 (reportedly soon to be acquired by Zoom) (1:21-cv-01087), GetResponse Services (1:21-cv-01085), Paylocity (6:21-cv-01226), and SpectrumVoIP (2:21-cv-00287). The NPE targets the defendants over the provision of their respective communications platforms (e.g., call center, videoconferencing, and VoIP platforms), targeting features related to providing notifications for incoming calls, live chats, and other messages. The sole patent asserted in this campaign was received from Siemens in October 2018; Wave Linx filed these new cases on the opening days of an evidentiary hearing before the International Trade Commission (ITC) in an investigation triggered by a complaint filed by sister IP Edge plaintiff Q3 Networking LLC, against respondents CommScope, HP Enterprise (HPE) (Aruba Networks), and NETGEAR. There, IP Edge asserts four other patents from among those received in October 2018, arguing the presence of a domestic industry based on the US activities of Siemens.

IP Edge LLC acquired 30 patents from Siemens in October 2018. In May of last year, the prolific monetization firm moved four of those patents to Q3 Networking LLC, which promptly did something out of the ordinary for IP Edge, filing an International Trade Commission (ITC) complaint asserting those patent against CommScope (ARRIS, Ruckus Wireless), HP (Aruba Networks), and NETGEAR. Q3 Networking pleaded that it would “promptly seek detailed discovery of Siemens’ domestic industry activities and investments related to the Asserted Patents and claimed technology through subpoena or through cooperation”. Cooperation apparently fell through.

As September 2020 draws to a close, IP Edge LLC—through plaintiff Q3 Networking LLC—has done something routine for the prolific NPE, as well as something unusual. In typical month-end fashion, Q3 Networking launched a new litigation campaign over patents from a 30-asset portfolio received from Siemens in October 2018, doing so through separate suits filed against CommScope (ARRIS; Ruckus Wireless) (1:20-cv-01263), HP Enterprise (HPE) (Aruba Networks) (1:20-cv-01265), and NETGEAR (1:20-cv-01264) in the District of Delaware. Q3 Networking joins more than ten other IP Edge plaintiffs to litigate assets from that former Siemens portfolio; however, in a first for IP Edge, Q3 Networking also filed this past week a complaint before the International Trade Commission (ITC), against the same respondents (337-TA-3493), relying on the US activities of licensee Siemens to establish a domestic industry.