In the past two months, three NPEs with ties to Robert A. Westerland—IP Communication Solutions, LLC, Content Aggregation Solutions LLC, and Nova Intellectual Solutions, LLC—have filed nearly 20 cases against a total of 18 operating companies, including Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Huawei, HTC, LG Electronics, Sharp, Sony, and ZTE. These NPEs’ principal place of business, according to their complaints, is a luxury condominium in Dallas, Texas owned by Westerlund—a well-known patent attorney, patent broker, and inventor connected to NPEs that have litigated both patents issuing to Westerlund and patents issuing to others but subsequently acquired for assertion.

Internet Access Solutions (IAS) launched a campaign asserting two patents related to preventing and correcting distortion and disruption of data communications (6,072,825, 6,212,374). IAS, a newly formed NPE, filed seven infringement suits against AOL, AT&T, Earthlink, Microsoft, Verizon, Windstream, and XO Communications this week. The complaints accuse defendants’ practices and devices that implement V.90, V.92, G.165, or G.168 standards in connection with offering dial-up Internet service of infringing the asserted patents.