USPTO records made public over the past few weeks have revealed assignments to a wide spectrum of NPE assignees, including two newly formed Texas entities; several affiliates of a prolific patent plaintiff; two subsidiaries of a publicly traded patent assertion entity; and multiple Irish entities formed by a third-party backed monetization firm.

Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-Lan Inc.) has announced the acquisition of a portfolio of patents described as relating to “wired connectivity functionality, including USB-C technologies used in various applications such as desktop and laptop computers, tablets, mobile phones, gaming consoles, and smart TVs”. Assignment records recently made public indicate the likely source of the patents—per Quarterhill, a “publicly-traded leader in semiconductor technologies”—as well as the subsidiary recipients.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw petitions for AIA review filed against a variety of prolific litigants in June 2017, including General Patent Corporation, Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.), Realtime Data LLC, Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited, and Xperi Corporation (f/k/a Tessera Holding Corporation). Also in June, the PTAB instituted trial for petitions brought against patents asserted in a variety of sprawling campaigns, including some waged by Acacia Research Corporation, IV, Papst Licensing, Quarterhill, and VirnetX Inc. The Board further issued final decisions throughout June in AIA reviews against patents involved in several notable campaigns, including some waged by Document Security Systems, Inc., Elm 3DS Innovations LLC, Empire IP LLC, and Quarterhill.

In the second half of July 2016, RPX saw 13 patent transfers to NPEs recorded with the USPTO. A number of those transactions involved patents that have already been asserted in litigation against operating companies.