Assignment history

Inventors

• Gregory G. Raleigh: Headwater Research LLC (at time of last known assignment to Headwater Research LLC in 2017)
• Alireza Raissinia: Headwater Research LLC (at time of last known assignment to Headwater Research LLC in 2017)
• James Lavine: Headwater Research LLC (at time of last known assignment to Headwater Research LLC in 2017)

It's difficult to definitively determine their employer at the exact time of filing (2016-12-05) from the provided information, but the reassignments indicate they were assignors to Headwater Partners I LLC on the filing date, and subsequently, Headwater Research LLC.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on the issued patent US10237757B2, is Headwater Research LLC.

It is unclear from the provided patent text and Google Patents information whether Headwater Research LLC shipped a product embodying the claims. Their primary line of business appears to be patent assertion, given the extensive litigation history. Headwater Research LLC is currently operating, as evidenced by the active litigation cases filed in 2025 and 2026.

Assignment timeline

• 2016-12-05 (executed) / recorded 2016-12-05 — Reel 038848/0927

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: LAVINE, JAMES, RAISSINIA, ALIREZA, RALEIGH, GREGORY G.
  • Assignee: HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
  • Correspondent: Patent Compliance Center, 2400 Sand Hill Road, Suite 200, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
  • Context: Transfer to an intermediate entity, likely for internal reorg/holding.

• 2017-01-05 (executed) / recorded 2017-01-05 — Reel 039017/0472

  • Conveyance: Merger and Change of Name
  • Assignor: HEADWATER MANAGEMENT LLC, HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
  • Assignee: HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC
  • Correspondent: Patent Compliance Center, 2400 Sand Hill Road, Suite 200, Menlo Park, CA 94025. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal corporate restructuring and change of name, resulting in the patent being assigned to Headwater Research LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10237757
    2009 : Priority date
    2016 : Application filed
         : Assigned by inventors to Headwater Partners I LLC
    2017 : Headwater Partners I merges to Headwater Research LLC
    2019 : Patent issued
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from the individual inventors to HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC (executed and recorded 2016-12-05, Reel 038848/0927) and then the subsequent merger and change of name to HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC (executed and recorded 2017-01-05, Reel 039017/0472) suggests a structuring of entities for holding and asserting patents. The lack of information about Headwater Research LLC shipping products, coupled with the extensive litigation, supports this.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Headwater Research LLC is actively involved in patent litigation, as evidenced by the numerous district court cases filed in 2025 and 2026, and a PTAB case. This pattern is consistent with a patent asserting entity.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. "Patent Compliance Center, 2400 Sand Hill Road, Suite 200, Menlo Park, CA 94025" appears as the correspondent for both the 2016-12-05 assignment (Reel 038848/0927) and the 2017-01-05 merger/change of name (Reel 039017/0472).

4. Cascading transfers — present. There are two transfers in quick succession (less than 24 months): the initial assignment by the inventors to Headwater Partners I LLC on 2016-12-05, followed by the merger into Headwater Research LLC on 2017-01-05. Both used the same correspondent.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the assignment chain concludes with Headwater Research LLC in early 2017 and the first litigation mentioned is in August 2025, there's a significant time gap. It's possible there were other transfers not publicly recorded, or the decision to litigate was made much later. However, the timing of the assignments relative to the priority date (2009-01-28) and application filing date (2016-12-05) suggests the patent rights were being organized prior to the patent's issuance (2019-03-19) and subsequent assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the provided data that the patent was transferred due to a bankruptcy proceeding.

7. Privateering — unclear. While Headwater Research LLC appears to be an asserting entity, there's no explicit information in the provided context to suggest it is asserting on behalf of a specific operating company against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain terminates at Headwater Research LLC, an entity engaged in litigation, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of multiple strong signals, including transfers to shell-like entities (Headwater Partners I LLC and Headwater Research LLC), Headwater Research LLC's identification as a known asserter through extensive litigation, and the recurrence of the same correspondent across the assignment chain (Reel 038848/0927 and 039017/0472), strongly indicates an NPE pattern. The cascading transfers further reinforce this.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ and search for patent number 10237757.