The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw activity in August 2018 involving a variety of frequent litigants. This included petitions for inter partes review (IPR) filed against two NPEs controlled by Fortress Investment Group LLC, INVT SPE LLC and Uniloc 2017 LLC, the latter of which has in recent months cofiled a barrage of lawsuits with subsidiaries of Australian NPE Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited (Uniloc). The PTAB also instituted trial in August for IPRs against Uniloc 2017 and some of its campaign coplaintiffs, and in an IPR against an NPE controlled by patent attorney Brian Yates, whose US litigation has waned as he pursues a new patent licensing initiative through his company iPEL, Inc. Finally, the PTAB issued final decisions in August for IPRs against Uniloc, Empire IP LLC, and Quarterhill Inc.

In a further expansion of its massive litigation campaign, Electronic Communication Technologies LLC (f/k/a Eclipse IP, LLC) (ECT) has made another eleven filings against a swath of online retailers. The NPE accuses Acecom (2:16-cv-01363), Action Envelope & Printing (2:16-cv-01364), Artbeads.com (2:16-cv-01365), Birthday Direct (2:16-cv-01366), Bulbs.com (2:16-cv-01367), CandyWarehouse.com (2:16-cv-01368), IHF Holdings (Icon Health & Fitness) (2:16-cv-01370), Gump’s Holdings (2:16-cv-01369), Parts Express (2:16-cv-01371), Super Warehouse (2:16-cv-01372), and Tea Living (d/b/a Tea Collection) (2:16-cv-01373) of infringing three patents (7,319,414; 7,876,239; 9,373,261) generally related to tracking shipments online and notifying recipients of their progress. As in a previous round of complaints filed by ECT in late September, these latest defendants are alleged to infringe through the order and shipping confirmation features offered by their respective websites. On December 8, just two days after each complaint was filed, ECT dropped the ‘414 and ‘239 patents from all eleven cases by amended complaint. ECT did the same on December 2 for its case against ShoppersChoice.com (9:16-cv-81677), one of the suits brought in the NPE’s September wave of filings.

Prolific NPE Electronic Communication Technologies LLC (f/k/a Eclipse IP, LLC) (ECT) has filed another wave of filings in its massive litigation campaign, hitting retailers Atman (9:16-cv-81671), Icahn Enterprises (Pep Boys) (9:16-cv-81676), Lakeshore Equipment Company (9:16-cv-81672), Minted (9:16-cv-81669), Orvis (9:16-cv-81675), and ShoppersChoice.com (9:16-cv-81677) over the order and shipping confirmation features offered by their respective websites. Each company is alleged to infringe three patents (7,319,414; 7,876,239; 9,373,261) generally related to tracking shipments online and notifying recipients of their progress.

Shipping & Transit, LLC’s late August filings, against Comcast, DISH, and ten others, followed 46 new cases filed in June-July and bring the NPE’s defendant count to 166. Shipping & Transit’s litigation campaign was launched in April 2015 and is a revival of an earlier campaign, waged by ArrivalStar SA and Melvino Technologies Limited, that hit over 500 companies between 2002 and 2015. With these latest rounds of suits, Shipping & Transit holds strong as the second most prolific NPE so far in 2016, both by number of new cases filed and number of defendants sued.

Shipping & Transit, LLC has continued its onslaught of litigation against retailers, adding a dozen new defendants to its sole litigation campaign over the past month. Since April 2015, the NPE (formerly known as ArrivalStar SA and Melvino Technologies Limited) has sued nearly 80 companies over a group of patents generally related to shipment tracking and scheduling (6,904,359; 6,975,998; 7,030,781; 7,400,970). Shipping and notification services (e.g. an email to a customer that includes a tracking link) have been the accused products throughout this campaign, and that focus continues in the NPE’s most recent suits, filed against CJ Pony Parts (9:16-cv-80191), Ebuys (2:16-cv-00741), Pharmapacks (9:16-cv-80189), Shutterfly (9:16-cv-80190), What She Buys (9:16-cv-80192), and VelaTrack (2:16-cv-00911).

Shipping & Transit, LLC appears to have taken over a vast and infamous litigation campaign that was initiated by ArrivalStar SA and Melvino Technologies Limited over a decade ago. Since April 2015, Shipping & Transit has sued 56 companies, mostly retailers, over a group of former ArrivalStar patents generally related to shipment tracking and scheduling (6,904,359; 6,975,998; 7,030,781; 7,400,970). Shipping and notification services (e.g. an e-mail to a customer that includes a tracking link) have been the accused products throughout this campaign, and that focus continues in the latest suits, filed last week against Campmor (2:15-cv-08635), Freshpair (2:15-cv-08638), Glasses USA (2:15-cv-08641), and Suntek Systems (9:15-cv-81529). Out of the 55 cases filed in this campaign, only 15 remain active. Most have been dismissed with prejudice, many within three months of filing.

Shipping and Transit, LLC sued Acer and Brown-Forman, as part of a recently launched campaign. The entity filed three suits on April 27, 2015, and within two weeks it had more than a dozen suits. Each case asserts four patents concerning notification systems for tracking a vehicle (6,904,359, 6,975,998, 7,030,781, 7,400,970). Shipping notification services that defendants provide to customers are at issue in the suits.