RPX took note of several patent asset transfers to NPEs recorded during the second half of December 2016. Assignees included Texas NPE Synergy Drone LLC, Nevada NPE Jonker LLC, and Delaware NPE Empire Technology Development LLC, and the named inventors on the different patent assets form an eclectic bunch.

As the last of its October 2015 lawsuits head toward dismissal, Tangelo IP, LLC continues its recent pattern of filing five new suits every five months. In February 2015, the NPE announced an agreement under which Dominion Harbor Group, LLC would act as the exclusive licensing agent for its patented technologies. Since then, Tangelo IP has filed five lawsuits in each of May 2015, October 2015, and now March 2016. The complaints in the campaign assert a single patent (8,429,005) generally related to creating an interactive, electronic version of a print publication. The interactive online catalogs of Brooks Brothers (2:16-cv-00205), Dollar General (2:16-cv-00202), JEGS (2:16-cv-00207), Mrs. Fields Gifts (2:16-cv-00206), and Snap-On (2:16-cv-00201) are targeted in these latest suits.

This week, Tangelo IP, LLC, an NPE in partnership with Dominion Harbor Group, nearly doubled its litigation campaign, suing five more retailers over their interactive online catalogs. The new suits, filed against Crate & Barrel (2:15-cv-01693), HD Supply (2:15-cv-01694), Mary Kay (2:15-cv-01695), Moosejaw (2:15-cv-01696), and Wal-Mart (2:15-cv-01697), follow the recent dismissal of one of the NPE’s first cases, lodged in May 2015 against Systemax (TigerDirect) (2:15-cv-00771). Tangelo’s cases all assert a single patent (8,429,005) that generally relates to creating an interactive, electronic version of a print publication. The NPE’s cases against L Brands, Target, Toys-R-Us, and Williams-Sonoma (all filed in May 2015) are open in initial pleadings. In August, District Judge Rodney Gilstrap consolidated those cases into a single action (2:15-cv-00770).