Assignment history

Inventors

• Paulo Shakarian (Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus)
• John Robertson (Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus)
• Jana Shakarian (Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus)
• Vivin Paliath (Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus)
• Amanda Thart (Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus)

All inventors were affiliated with Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus at the time of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus. It is a public research university and is not primarily in the business of shipping commercial products embodying patent claims, but rather research and education. Its current status is operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2016-11-29 (executed) / recorded 2016-12-21 — Reel 041165/0676

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: PALIATH, VIVIN; THART, AMANDA; ROBERTSON, JOHN; SHAKARIAN, JANA; SHAKARIAN, PAULO
  • Assignee: ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
  • Correspondent: GREGORY J. JAFFE, THE CASEY GROUP, P.C., 1133 WEST NORTHERN AVENUE, SUITE 210, CASA GRANDE, AZ 85122
  • Context: Internal reorg/transfer from inventors to university board.

• 2025-01-29 (executed) / recorded 2025-01-30 — Reel 070067/0096

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
  • Assignee: SKYSONG INNOVATIONS, LLC
  • Correspondent: GREGORY J. JAFFE, THE CASEY GROUP PC, 1133 WEST NORTHERN AVE, STE 210, CASA GRANDE, AZ 85122. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal transfer to a technology transfer organization.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10313385
    2016 : Inventors assign to ASU Board of Regents
    2019 : Patent issued
    2025 : ASU Board of Regents to Skysong Innovations LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Skysong Innovations, LLC is a technology transfer organization associated with Arizona State University and is involved in commercializing university intellectual property, it is not definitively a shell entity in the typical NPE sense of having no products in commerce. It acts on behalf of the university.

2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Skysong Innovations, LLC is not on common public NPE lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Gregory J. Jaffe of The Casey Group, P.C. is listed as the correspondent for both the 2016-12-21 assignment (Reel 041165/0676) and the 2025-01-30 assignment (Reel 070067/0096).

4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two assignments recorded, nine years apart.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to Skysong Innovations, LLC was executed on January 29, 2025, and recorded on January 30, 2025 (Reel 070067/0096). The first infringement suits (7:25-cv-00040 and 2:25-cv-00098) were filed on January 31, 2025. This transfer occurred just one or two days before the lawsuits.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication that Arizona State University or its Board of Regents filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — unclear. There's no public information definitively indicating privateering.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not end at a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion The current assignee, Skysong Innovations, LLC, is the technology transfer organization for Arizona State University. While they are asserting the patent in litigation, the context indicates they are acting to commercialize the university's intellectual property, which aligns more closely with an operating-company assertion model than a traditional NPE. The pre-litigation transfer (Reel 070067/0096) just before the filing of infringement suits (on January 31, 2025) strongly suggests the transfer was made to enable assertion.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US10313385: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/