Patent 10009720

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (2)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2015-06-12 · recorded 2015-06-18 · reel 035222/0762 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    PEREZ LAFUENTE, CARLOS ALBERTOAFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES, S.L.

    Correspondent: · STROOCK & STROOCK & LAVAN

    internal reorg

  2. 2023-07-17 · recorded 2023-08-01 · reel 052441/0306 · ASSIGNMENT

    AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SLAVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC

    Correspondent: MICHAEL J. RIEGLING · STOEL RIVES

    transfer-to-asserter

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Inventors

  • Carlos A. Pérez LaFuente: Employer at the time of application filing (June 12, 2015) was AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES, S.L.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the patent application and subsequently the issued patent was AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES S.L. (a Spanish limited company). They are a technology and business consulting firm that offers services including custom software and mobile application development. While they provide services that could incorporate technologies described in the patent, there is no direct public evidence confirming they shipped a specific product embodying these particular claims. The current status of the specific Spanish entity, AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES S.L., is not explicitly stated in public records, though related "Affirma Consulting" entities in the US and Ireland appear to be active. PlainSite indicates the original Spanish entity has no SEC filings and has not been involved in litigation in its database.

Assignment timeline

  • 2015-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2015-06-18 — Reel 035222/0762

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: PEREZ LAFUENTE, CARLOS ALBERTO
    • Assignee: AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES, S.L.
    • Correspondent: STROOCK & STROOCK & LAVAN LLP, 180 MAIDEN LANE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10038-4982.
    • Context: Inventor assigned rights to the original corporate assignee (patent application stage).

  • 2023-07-17 (executed) / recorded 2023-08-01 — Reel 052441/0306

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL
    • Assignee: AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC
    • Correspondent: MICHAEL J. RIEGLING, STOEL RIVES LLP, 600 S.W. FOURTH AVENUE, SUITE 1600, PORTLAND, OR 97201.
    • Context: Transfer of the issued patent from the original assignee to a patent asserting entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10009720
    2015 : Filed; Inventor assigned to Afirma Consulting
    2018 : Patent issued
    2023 : Assigned to Avant Location Techs LLC
    2024 : First infringement suit filings

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. Avant Location Technologies LLC (the current assignee) is identified by Unified Patents as an "NPE and entity of Anjay Venture Partners LLC", indicating it operates as a licensing-only entity.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Avant Location Technologies LLC is explicitly recognized as an NPE by Unified Patents. It has asserted this patent and others in its portfolio against major technology companies, including Apple, Samsung, Fibar Group, Nice Group, and Generac Holdings.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The two recorded assignments involve different correspondent attorneys and firms.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only one transfer of the issued patent is recorded.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to Avant Location Technologies LLC on 2023-07-17 (executed) and recorded 2023-08-01 (Reel 052441/0306). Litigation against parties such as Apple, Fibar Group, and Samsung began in 2024, and for a related patent (US 9,485,621), an assertion against Ecobee (Generac) was noted in August 2023. This indicates the transfer occurred either concurrent with or shortly before active assertion.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present.
  7. Privateering — unclear. While Avant is an NPE, there is no public information indicating that the original assignee, AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES S.L., is actively leveraging Avant to assert against its direct competitors.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by an entity actively involved in assertion, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

Avant Location Technologies LLC, the current owner (recorded 2023-08-01, Reel 052441/0306), is identified as a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) by Unified Patents and is actively involved in litigation asserting this patent against multiple technology companies. The transfer of ownership to Avant Location Technologies LLC occurred in July-August 2023, closely preceding or coinciding with the commencement of infringement lawsuits in 2023 and 2024, indicating a pre-litigation transfer pattern.

For verification, refer to the USPTO Patent Assignment Search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/24/2026, 12:47:21 AM