Assignment history

Inventors

The inventors named on US Patent 10445684 are Peter A. Mehring, Thomas C. Reese, Dean M. Kawaguchi, Sameer Dekate, and Russell Shikami. All inventors were likely employed by or affiliated with Zest Labs Inc. (or its precursor entity IntelLeFlex Corporation) at the time of the patent application filing on March 30, 2016. There is no indication of all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named as the original assignee on the issued patent US10445684 is Zest Labs Inc.
Zest Labs Inc. developed and marketed "Zest Fresh" solutions, which are active freshness management solutions for perishable food products in the supply chain, embodying the claims of the patent. Their primary line of business was IoT-based data analytics and environmental monitoring for fresh produce to reduce waste and improve quality.
Zest Labs Inc. was acquired by Post Harvest Technologies in 2017, and subsequently, Post Harvest Technologies (including Zest Labs) was acquired by Apeel Sciences, Inc. in 2020. Therefore, Zest Labs Inc. no longer operates as an independent entity but is part of Apeel Sciences.

Assignment timeline

• 2016-07-27 (executed) / recorded 2016-08-04 — Reel 038006/0594

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: KAWAGUCHI, DEAN M.; REESE, THOMAS C.; SHIKAMI, RUSSELL; DEKATE, SAMEER; MEHRING, PETER A.
  • Assignee: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP, Attn: IP Docketing, ONE LOGAN SQUARE, 130 N. 18TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITED STATES, 19103-6998.
  • Context: Assignment of patent application rights from the individual inventors to a corporate entity during prosecution.

• 2017-02-10 (executed) / recorded 2017-02-17 — Reel 038933/0081

  • Conveyance: CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: ZEST LABS, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP, ATTN: IP DOCKETING, ONE LOGAN SQUARE, 130 N. 18TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITEDES STATES, 19103-6998. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Corporate name change, where the entity owning the patent application (IntelLeFlex Corporation) changed its name to Zest Labs, Inc.

• 2020-11-02 (executed) / recorded 2020-11-13 — Reel 050012/0827

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: ZEST LABS, INC.
  • Assignee: APEEL SCIENCES, INC.
  • Correspondent: DLA Piper LLP (US), 2000 University Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA, UNITED STATES, 94303.
  • Context: Acquisition of Zest Labs, Inc. by Apeel Sciences, Inc.

• 2020-11-02 (executed) / recorded 2020-11-13 — Reel 050012/0830

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: APEEL SCIENCES, INC.
  • Assignee: APEEL IP COMPANY
  • Correspondent: DLA Piper LLP (US), 2000 University Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA, UNITED STATES, 94303. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal transfer of intellectual property to a dedicated IP holding subsidiary of Apeel Sciences, Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10445684
    2016 : Filed by Zest Labs Inc
         : Inventors assign to IntelLeFlex
    2017 : IntelLeFlex becomes Zest Labs
    2019 : Patent issued to Zest Labs
    2020 : Acquired by Apeel Sciences
         : Transferred to Apeel IP Company

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from APEEL SCIENCES, INC. to APEEL IP COMPANY (Reel 050012/0830, executed 2020-11-02). The name "IP Company" suggests a dedicated intellectual property holding entity, which is a common structure for both operating companies to manage IP and for NPEs. In this case, it appears to be an internal transfer within an operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the identified assignees (IntelLeFlex Corporation, Zest Labs Inc., Apeel Sciences Inc., Apeel IP Company) are recognized as known patent assertion entities on public NPE lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. BLANK ROME LLP is listed as the correspondent for the assignment from inventors to IntelLeFlex (Reel 038006/0594) and the change of name from IntelLeFlex to Zest Labs (Reel 038933/0081). DLA Piper LLP (US) is listed as the correspondent for the assignment from Zest Labs to Apeel Sciences (Reel 050012/0827) and the subsequent transfer to Apeel IP Company (Reel 050012/0830).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there were two transfers recorded on the same date in 2020, they represent an acquisition followed immediately by an internal IP reorganization, not a series of rapid transfers through unrelated shell entities.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. There is no available information regarding any infringement litigation naming this patent, so it is not possible to assess if any assignment occurred within six months of a lawsuit filing.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The recorded assignments indicate corporate acquisitions and internal restructuring, not transfers stemming from bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — Not present. Apeel Sciences, Inc. is an operating company, and the patent is held by its internal IP subsidiary. There is no evidence suggesting a transfer to an external NPE to assert patents on Apeel's behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee is Apeel IP Company, an internal IP holding entity for Apeel Sciences, not a defensive aggregator like RPX or AST.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. The patent is currently owned by Apeel IP Company, which is an intellectual property holding subsidiary of Apeel Sciences, Inc.. Apeel Sciences is an operating company that commercializes products related to the core subject matter of the patent (food freshness management). The transfers reflect standard corporate activities including an acquisition and subsequent internal IP management, with no indicators of involvement from known patent assertion entities. (See USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ for verification).