Last week, RPX raised the possibility of IP Edge LLC’s practices—specifically, the naming of Texas residents with seemingly no discernible connections to patent monetization as managers or managing members of most of its LLCs—sliding under the judicial microscope. On September 12, District of Delaware Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly ordered a handful of such individuals to appear, in person, at evidentiary hearings to determine whether a group of apparent IP Edge plaintiffs has complied with his standing order regarding the disclosure of any third-party litigation funding. A similar order has been issued in multiple cases associated with Dynamic IP Deals, LLC (d/b/a DynaIP), Judge Connolly setting an October hearing to determine the accuracy of those plaintiffs’ amended corporate disclosure statements. Perhaps unsurprisingly, voluntary dismissals have been noticed across these cases, ending the court’s jurisdiction over the matters.

Twice now, Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC has acquired a portfolio of patent assets from Xerox (directly or from subsidiary Palo Alto Research Corporation (PARC)) from which multiple litigation campaigns have arisen. Most recently, IP Edge entity Majandro LLC picked up over 130 such assets, subsequently moving them to sister entities Fusion IP LLC, Milestone IP LLC, Paradise IP LLC, and Realm Licensing LLC for assertion. Last month, Milestone IP launched a financial services campaign, with the other three filing their first complaints this month. Fusion IP’s complaint raises questions, however, about what corporate entity actually owns two of the patents that it purports to assert.

Late last month, RPX noted the assignment of over 130 US assets from Xerox and subsidiary Palo Alto Research Corporation (PARC) to Majandro LLC, an entity associated with Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC. Since then two batches have been farmed out for apparent assertion, by sister entities Fusion IP LLC (at least six assets received) and Milestone IP LLC (at least four assets received). Milestone IP has just launched its inaugural campaign, hitting Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA USA Bancshares) (6:20-cv-00789), Capital One (6:20-cv-00790), Regions Bank (6:20-cv-00791), Wells Fargo (6:20-cv-00792), and WoodForest National Bank (6:20-cv-00793), each with a Western District of Texas complaint.

Three April 2020 assignments from operating companies to NPEs were recently recorded with the USPTO—two from Xerox and subsidiary Palo Alto Research Corporation (PARC) to an IP Edge LLC affiliate, comprising over 130 US assets; and one from Huawei to an NPE with ties to EVS Codec Technologies, LLC, whose codec campaign asserting former VoiceAge patents remains active.