Assignment history

Inventors

• C. Earl Woolfork. The provided text does not specify an employer at the time of filing.

Original assignee

• ONE-E-WAY Inc., a California corporation. The company's website states its mission is to "provide High Quality Wireless Electronic Products at affordable prices." It appears to be an operating company that both develops and sells products, such as its "E-Clip™" series of wireless headphones and earbuds, and also licenses its patented technology to other manufacturers. ONE-E-WAY has also been an active plaintiff in patent litigation, including a notable case against the International Trade Commission and Sony.

Assignment timeline

• 2008-10-22 (executed) / recorded 2019-08-27 — Reel 050187/0067

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: WOOLFORK, C. EARL
  • Assignee: ONE-E-WAY, INC.
  • Correspondent: Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP, 2040 Main Street, Fourteenth Floor, Irvine, CA 92614
  • Context: This is the initial assignment from the inventor to the original assignee.

• 2019-05-28 (executed) / recorded 2019-09-03 — Reel 050253/0119

  • Conveyance: License
  • Assignor: ONE-E-WAY, INC.
  • Assignee: PEAG, LLC D/B/A JLAB AUDIO
  • Correspondent: One-E-Way, Inc., 202 S. Lake Ave., Ste. 250, Pasadena, CA 91101
  • Context: A license agreement was granted to an operating audio products company.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10129627
    2001 : Priority date
    2008 : Inventor assigns to ONE-E-WAY Inc
    2018 : Patent issued
    2019 : License to PEAG LLC DBA JLAB AUDIO

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The original assignee, ONE-E-WAY Inc., is an operating company with products. The subsequent transaction is a license to another operating company, PEAG, LLC (JLab Audio), not a transfer to a non-practicing entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. While not a "patent troll" in the traditional sense of a non-practicing entity that exists solely to litigate, ONE-E-WAY, Inc. has engaged in patent assertion, including filing a complaint with the International Trade Commission.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. The two recorded transactions have different correspondents of record.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one initial assignment and one subsequent license recorded.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment from the inventor to ONE-E-WAY Inc. occurred long before any known litigation. The license to PEAG, LLC also does not appear to be immediately followed by litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings for any entity in the chain.

7. Privateering — Not present. The recorded transaction is a license, not a transfer of ownership to an entity that would then litigate on behalf of ONE-E-WAY Inc.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not involve any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

• Operating-company assertion

ONE-E-WAY Inc., the original assignee, is a company that develops and sells wireless audio products and also licenses its technology. They have also actively enforced their patent rights through litigation. The only other entity in the chain, PEAG, LLC (JLab Audio), is also an operating company in the audio products space. Therefore, this patent is being asserted by an operating company, not a non-practicing entity.

Verification available at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search.