In 2015, seven NPEs controlled by Monument Patent Holdings, LLC filed over 40 patent infringement suits against operating companies—a marked increase compared to just nine cases lodged by two Monument entities (DataTech IP, LLC and Optical Tech IP) in 2014. Monument Patent Holdings was incorporated in Texas in December 2013 and is managed by four Dominion Harbor Group, LLC executives: David Pridham, Dominion’s CEO, formerly of IPNav; Matthew DelGiorno, Dominion’s president, formerly of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP; Conner Mowles, Dominion’s CFO, formerly of IPNav; and Lee Bradlee Sheafe, Dominion’s Chief IP Officer.

New NPE Guyzar LLC has filed suit against 20 defendants on the same day, asserting a single patent (5,845,070), which generally relates to using a separate certification server to authenticate a first server without revealing confidential information, against companies using the OAuth protocol to offer the ability to log in using an account from another service. Defendants range from news outlets (LATimes.com, The Washington Post) to entertainment companies (Buzzfeed, ESPN, Television Food Network) to e-commerce platforms (TripAdvsor, Kayak.com). This litigation campaign is the NPE’s first and only one to date, but the ‘070 patent has passed through the hands of some very active players prior to Guyzar’s acquisition: it was previously owned by a company tied to both Monument Patent Holdings LLC and Guy Fielder, founder of PACid Group, LLC and numerous related licensing entities.