Assignment history

Inventors

The sole inventor named on US patent 10321320 is Gregory G. Raleigh. At the time of filing, Mr. Raleigh was associated with Headwater Research LLC, the original assignee of the patent.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on US patent 10321320 is Headwater Research LLC. Headwater Research LLC is a privately held company based in McLean, Virginia. While they develop technologies related to wireless and wireline network management, including deep packet inspection, traffic shaping, billing, and policy control, there is no readily available evidence that Headwater Research LLC ships products directly to consumers or network operators. Their primary line of business appears to be centered on patenting and licensing these technologies. The company is currently operating and actively engaged in patent litigation.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center records the following assignments for US patent 10321320:

• 2017-05-03 (executed) / recorded 2017-05-03 — Reel 039775/0369

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: RALEIGH, GREGORY G.
  • Assignee: HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
  • Correspondent: RUSS, AUGUSTUS E., 6867 ELM STREET SUITE 1600, MCLEAN, VIRGINIA 22101. This correspondent also appears on the subsequent record for this patent.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to an associated limited liability company shortly after the patent application filing date.

• 2017-05-03 (executed) / recorded 2017-05-03 — Reel 039775/0370

  • Conveyance: MERGER AND CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: HEADWATER MANAGEMENT LLC, HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
  • Assignee: HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC
  • Correspondent: RUSS, AUGUSTUS E., 6867 ELM STREET SUITE 1600, MCLEAN, VIRGINIA 22101. This correspondent also appears on the preceding record for this patent.
  • Context: Internal reorganization and change of name, consolidating ownership under Headwater Research LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10321320
    2017 : Application filed
         : Inventor assigns to Headwater Partners I LLC
         : Headwater Partners I LLC merges into Headwater Research LLC
    2019 : Patent granted
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. Headwater Research LLC appears to operate as an IP licensing and assertion entity rather than a product-shipping company. The multiple litigation cases associated with this patent and its family strongly support an assertion-focused business model.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Headwater Research LLC is identified by Unified Patents as a frequent plaintiff in patent litigation and is associated with patent assertion campaigns.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Augustus E. Russ of 6867 Elm Street Suite 1600, McLean, Virginia 22101, is listed as the correspondent for both recorded assignment documents (Reel 039775/0369 and Reel 039775/0370).
4. Cascading transfers — unclear. While there were two ownership-related recordings on the same day (2017-05-03) shortly after filing, they represent an initial ownership structuring (inventor to LLC, then merger/name change to the ultimate assignee) rather than rapid, consecutive transfers between unrelated shell entities to obscure ownership.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The assignment and merger events occurred in May 2017, and the patent was granted in June 2019. The earliest recorded litigation for this patent family is in 2025, significantly more than six months after the ownership transfers.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the patent information or public records that the patent was acquired via bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no public information to suggest that Headwater Research LLC is asserting this patent on behalf of an operating company competitor.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is itself identified as a patent asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. This verdict is based on multiple strong signals: Headwater Research LLC is identified as a known patent asserter by organizations like Unified Patents, and there is no evidence of the company manufacturing or selling products embodying the patented technology. Additionally, the same correspondent, Augustus E. Russ, handled both initial assignment recordings (Reel 039775/0369 and Reel 039775/0370), which is a common administrative pattern for NPEs establishing their ownership chain.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US10321320: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/assignment-view-data.html?id=10321320