In April 2019, Zyrcuits IP LLC, an NPE apparently associated with monetization firm IP Edge LLC, picked up the bulk of the patent portfolio once held (and litigated) by Linex Technologies, Inc. Last week, Zyrcuits asserted the first of those 30 US patents, filing complaints against Signify (1:19-cv-01609), Spectrum Brands (1:19-cv-01610), Wink Labs (1:19-cv-01607), and Wirepath Home Systems (Control4) (1:19-cv-01608), in the District of Delaware and against Samsung (2:19-cv-00298) in the Eastern District of Texas. The sole asserted patent generally relates to spread-spectrum wireless data transmission, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of smart home products supporting the ZigBee wireless communications standard.

The portfolio of patents received by monetization firm IP Edge LLC from Siemens in October 2018 has now given rise to eight campaigns, with the most recent waged by plaintiff Sonohm Licensing LLC. The NPE has accused Best Buy (Great Call) (1:19-cv-01619, 1:19-cv-01620), Fry’s Electronics (2:19-cv-00297), Juniper Systems (1:19-cv-00101), and ROKit (2:19-cv-07569) of infringing up to three wireless communications patents through the provision and/or sale of various devices that use Bluetooth 4.0 technology, including various smartphones, speakers, tablets, and wireless earphones. The retailers, Best Buy and Fry’s, are accused of infringement through the sale of such products made by Amazon, ASUSTek, BLU Products, Caterpillar, CellAllure, DigiLand, Ematic, Lenovo, RugGear, and Visual Land, among others, with Best Buy’s GreatCall tagged over the provision of the Jitterbug Smart2 and Jitterbug Flip “senior cell phones”; Juniper Systems, over its “rugged” mobile devices (i.e., the CT7G, Allegro 3, and Archer 3); and ROKit, over its iO Pro 3D, 3D, Light, and One smartphones.

After a several-month hiatus, Packet Tread LLC has filed additional cases in its voice over IP (VoIP) campaign, suing Atos (Unify) (9:17-cv-81375) in the Southern District of Florida and both Echostar (Hughes Network Systems) (8:17-cv-03069) and IPItomy Communications (8:17-cv-03067) in the Middle District. The NPE accuses the defendants of infringing a single patent broadly related to echo cancellation in VoIP networks through provision of their communications systems. Packet Tread is an affiliate of Texas monetization firm IP Edge LLC, the most active NPE plaintiff at the end of both 2016 and 2017.

Prolific patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC shows no signs of slowing down in the New Year, with affiliated NPEs filing another round of cases in the first week of January. Ruby Sands LLC has added new lawsuits to its troubled mobile banking campaign, while Packet Tread LLC and Cypaleo LLC have continued to expand their respective communications campaigns. These latest cases follow a surge of filings by other IP Edge affiliates in the final months of 2016.

IP Edge LLC affiliate MagnaCross LLC has filed a fresh round of lawsuits, capping off a wave of year-end litigation by other NPEs also controlled by the prolific monetization firm. The latest MagnaCross complaints target Avaya (2:16-cv-01461), Comtrend (2:16-cv-01462), EnGenius (2:16-cv-01463), Huawei (2:16-cv-01464), Juniper Networks (2:16-cv-01465), Siemens (2:16-cv-01466), and Sierra Wireless (2:16-cv-01467), accusing the companies of infringing a single patent (6,917,304) generally related to wireless data transmission through the provision of wireless access points or routers.

Three NPEs formed in Texas in June 2015, Pherah LLC, Mod Stack LLC, and Packet Tread LLC, have kicked off second waves in each of their litigation campaigns over the past month. In the first five days of July, Pherah filed 18 individual complaints, suing the same number of companies of infringing a single patent (RE44,652) through provision of interactive sales features on their websites. A couple of weeks later, Mod Stack asserted a patent (7,460,520) generally related to connecting telephone calls between legacy circuit-switched networks and newer packet-switched networks against the networking products of six defendants: AudioCodes (2:16-cv-00796), Calix (2:16-cv-00797), Metaswitch Networks (2:16-cv-00798), Mitel (2:16-cv-00799), Shoretel (2:16-cv-00800), and Synway Information Engineering (2:16-cv-00801). These new rounds of filings by Mod Stack and Pherah join a second wave of suits lodged by Packet Tread LLC earlier this month (see “Packet Tread’s Campaign Shifts to Unified Communication Systems“, July 2015).

Nearly a year after Packet Tread LLC launched its first and only litigation campaign to date, suing over 15 major electronics makers, the NPE has filed its second wave of cases, this time hitting ADTRAN, Avaya, Cisco, Polycom, Mitel, Panasonic, and four others. As in its previous filings, Packet Tread’s complaints accuse the defendants of infringing a single patent related to echo cancellation in a voice and data modem (6,310,864). But while Packet Tread’s first round of suits targeted mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, the NPE’s latest suits focus on VoIP and IP phones.

In the second half of June 2016, RPX saw over 20 patent transfers to NPEs recorded with the USPTO. A number of those transactions involved patents that have been asserted in litigation against operating companies—some as recently as this past week.

Texas NPE Peppermint Hills LLC has asserted a single patent (8,131,217) generally related to identifying a device via Bluetooth against Adidas, AliphCom, Garmin, Nike, Pebble Technology, Sigma Sport, Timex, TomTom, and Under Armour. The defendants are accused of infringement through provision of smartwatches and other wearable computing devices. Peppermint’s complaints mark the third time an NPE has asserted a former TeliBrahma Technologies patent acquired from Allied Security Trust (as Cactus Flower) on the same day in 2015.

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.