Patent 10057322

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 (3)

Asserters network →

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

  1. 2017-02-10 · recorded 2017-03-21 · reel 041657/0796 · Assignment

    POWER, WILLIAM R.LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, COLORADO

    Internal reorg

  2. 2017-03-21 · reel 041657/0696 · Assignment

    NEWTON, CHRISTOPHERLEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, COLORADO

    Internal reorg

  3. 2024-05-31 · recorded 2024-07-09 · reel 068256/0091 · Assignment

    LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLCSANDPIPER CDN, LLC, DELAWARE

    Correspondent: Darrick B. Blake

    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.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Christopher Newton (Level 3 Communications LLC at the time of filing)
  • William R. Power (Level 3 Communications LLC at the time of filing)

Original assignee

Level 3 Communications LLC.
Level 3 Communications LLC was a telecommunications and internet service provider. The company was acquired by CenturyLink (now Lumen Technologies) in 2017. Lumen Technologies remains an operating company.

Assignment timeline

  • 2017-03-21 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-21 — Reel 041657/0696
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: NEWTON, CHRISTOPHER
    • Assignee: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, COLORADO
    • Correspondent: NOT RECORDED
    • Context: Internal reorg
  • 2017-02-10 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-21 — Reel 041657/0796
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: POWER, WILLIAM R.
    • Assignee: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, COLORADO
    • Correspondent: NOT RECORDED
    • Context: Internal reorg
  • 2024-05-31 (executed) / recorded 2024-07-09 — Reel 068256/0091
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC
    • Assignee: SANDPIPER CDN, LLC, DELAWARE
    • Correspondent: Darrick B. Blake, 10700 Parkridge Blvd., Ste 200, Reston, VA, 20191. This correspondent has not appeared previously in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer-to-asserter

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10057322
    2015 : Filed by Level 3 Communications
    2017 : Inventors assign to Level 3
    2018 : Issued to Level 3
    2024 : Assigned to SANDPIPER CDN LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The assignment on 2024-07-09 (Reel 068256/0091) from Level 3 Communications, LLC to SANDPIPER CDN, LLC, DELAWARE, indicates a potential shell entity. Sandpiper CDN, LLC appears to be a single-purpose entity, and while the patent text refers to the current assignee as "Sandpiper Cdn LLC", external information may confirm its NPE status.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. Sandpiper CDN, LLC is currently involved in litigation, as indicated by the PTAB case IPR2025-01010 filed by Unified Patents against the current assignee, Sandpiper CDN, LLC. This suggests Sandpiper CDN, LLC may be acting as an asserter.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The correspondent Darrick B. Blake appears once on reel 068256/0091.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only one transfer is recorded between Level 3 Communications, LLC and Sandpiper CDN, LLC.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to Sandpiper CDN, LLC was recorded on 2024-07-09 (Reel 068256/0091). A US case was filed in California Central District Court (2:24-cv-03951) and a PTAB case (IPR2025-01010) was filed on 2025-05-23. The filing date of the district court case (2024-06-03, based on Unified Patents litigation data) is roughly within six months before the assignment recording, suggesting the transfer was arranged around the time of anticipated assertion.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Level 3 Communications LLC was acquired by CenturyLink, not dissolved in bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — unclear. While Level 3 Communications LLC (now Lumen Technologies) is an operating company, the transfer to Sandpiper CDN, LLC could potentially be a privateering arrangement. However, no explicit evidence from SEC filings or other sources is available to confirm this.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Sandpiper CDN, LLC, which is currently involved in litigation, rather than a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence

This verdict is based on the presence of a shell-entity transfer to Sandpiper CDN, LLC (Reel 068256/0091) and the indication of pre-litigation transfer, as the assignment to Sandpiper CDN, LLC occurred around the time the patent became involved in litigation in the California Central District Court (2:24-cv-03951) and the PTAB IPR2025-01010 case. The involvement of Sandpiper CDN, LLC in current litigation, as noted by Unified Patents, further supports its role as a potential NPE. You can verify this information through the USPTO Assignment Center by searching for patent number 10057322 at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/.

Generated 5/15/2026, 6:46:13 AM