Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor for US patent 10380873 is Michael Halverson. At the time of the patent's filing on April 16, 2019, the application was filed by an "Individual," and shortly after, ownership was explicitly assigned to Michael Halverson and Richard E. Knecht before being transferred to Ricmic LLC. There is no determinable employer for Michael Halverson directly associated with the patent's subject matter or the initial filing at that time based on available public records. It appears Michael Halverson was operating as an independent inventor or as part of a small, unnamed entity with Richard E. Knecht.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Ricmic LLC. However, the application was initially filed by an "Individual," subsequently assigned to the inventors Michael Halverson and Richard E. Knecht, and then to Ricmic LLC. Therefore, Ricmic LLC is the first formal entity identified in the patent's ownership chain according to the Google Patents legal events.

A search for "Ricmic LLC" products or business did not yield any public-facing information directly related to manufacturing or selling an "Interactive wireless life safety communications system" or similar products. The search results for similarly named entities like "Rithmic, LLC" indicate a business in financial trading software, which is unrelated to the patent's domain. Other "RICMIC CORP." entities found were inactive or unrelated. This suggests Ricmic LLC may not be an operating company that ships products embodying the claims. Its current status is active, as indicated by Google Patents.

Assignment timeline

The following assignment records are sourced from the "Legal status" and "Priority Applications" sections of the US10380873B1 Google Patents page, as direct access to the USPTO Assignment Center was not performed for this analysis. Recording dates, reel/frame numbers, and correspondent information are not available through this source.

• 2019-05-07 (executed) / recorded N/A
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Individual (initial applicant)
  • Assignee: KNECHT, RICHARD E., HALVERSON, MICHAEL
  • Correspondent: Not specified
  • Context: Transfer from the original individual applicant(s) to the named inventors as individuals.
• 2019-06-25 (executed) / recorded N/A
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HALVERSON, MICHAEL P
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified
  • Context: Transfer of interest from one of the inventors to Ricmic LLC.
• 2019-06-27 (executed) / recorded N/A
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: KNECHT, RICHARD
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified
  • Context: Transfer of interest from the other inventor to Ricmic LLC.
• 2024-05-08 (executed) / recorded N/A
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HALVERSON, MICHAEL P, MR., KNECHT, RICHARD E, RICHARD E. KNECHT A PROF. CORP.
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified
  • Context: Further assignment of assignor's interest to Ricmic LLC, possibly a confirmatory assignment or an update given the mention of "RICHARD E. KNECHT A PROF. CORP.".
• 2024-05-08 (executed) / recorded N/A
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: RICMIC LLC
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified
  • Context: Internal reassignment within Ricmic LLC, potentially for administrative or restructuring purposes.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10380873
    2019 : Filed by Individual
         : Assigned to Halverson & Knecht
         : Halverson assigned to Ricmic LLC
         : Knecht assigned to Ricmic LLC
    2019 : Patent issued
    2024 : Halverson & Knecht assigned to Ricmic LLC
         : Ricmic LLC assigned to Ricmic LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The original application was filed by an "Individual," and shortly after, the patent was assigned to Ricmic LLC. There is no readily available public information indicating that Ricmic LLC manufactures or sells products related to life safety communication systems. The fact that Google Patents shows ongoing litigation for the patent family, coupled with the lack of apparent products, strongly suggests a licensing or assertion-focused entity. The exact address and corporate structure (e.g., Delaware LLC) could not be verified from the available information, but the lack of an operating business is a key indicator.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Ricmic LLC is not explicitly listed as a known high-frequency plaintiff or NPE by prominent organizations like RPX Insurance or Unified Patents based on the provided search context.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The detailed correspondent information (attorney name, firm, address, reel/frame) is not available from the Google Patents legal events summary. Therefore, it's impossible to identify if the same correspondent recurs.
4. Cascading transfers — Present (weak signal). There were three transfers within a short period in 2019 (May 7, June 25, June 27) that effectively moved the patent from the individual inventor(s) to Ricmic LLC. While not involving multiple different LLCs, the rapid transfer to an entity that does not appear to be an operating company is noteworthy. The subsequent transfers in 2024, including an internal one, also suggest active management of the patent asset by Ricmic LLC.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The "Family has litigation" note on Google Patents indicates multiple US cases filed in District Courts (Texas Eastern, Florida Middle, California Southern) [cite: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US10380873](/patent/US10380873)/en]. However, the exact dates of the first infringement suit naming this patent are not provided, preventing a definitive comparison with the assignment dates.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication of the original assignee or inventors filing for bankruptcy and the patent being sold in such proceedings.
7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no public information or SEC filings available to suggest that Ricmic LLC is asserting this patent on behalf of an operating company against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with Ricmic LLC, which does not appear to be a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence.
This verdict is based on the strong signal that Ricmic LLC appears to be a shell entity, lacking public-facing products or an operating business related to the patented technology. The prompt's authoritative source explicitly states "Family has litigation" with multiple US cases filed, which is a key characteristic of NPE behavior. The rapid initial transfers from individual inventors to Ricmic LLC in 2019 also suggest the establishment of an entity primarily for managing and potentially asserting patent rights.

[USPTO Assignment Center Search for US10380873](https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html - search by patent number 10380873)