Assignment history

Inventors

• Peter A. Mehring (Zest Labs Inc)
• Thomas C. Reese (Zest Labs Inc)
• Dean M. Kawaguchi (Zest Labs Inc)
• Sameer Dekate (Zest Labs Inc)
• Russell Shikami (Zest Labs Inc)

Original assignee

The original assignee is Zest Labs Inc. Their primary line of business, based on the patent's subject matter, appears to be developing technology for actively managing food delivery and ensuring product quality and safety during transport. It is unclear from the provided text whether they shipped a product embodying the claims. According to the "Legal status" section of Google Patents, Zest Labs Inc is the "Current Assignee" and the patent is "Active".

Assignment timeline

• 2016-07-27 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-27 — Reel 037563/0187

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: KAWAGUCHI, DEAN M., REESE, Thomas C., SHIKAMI, Russell, DEKATE, Sameer, MEHRING, PETER A.
  • Assignee: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP
  • Context: Transfer of inventors' interests to a corporate entity.

• 2017-02-10 (executed) / recorded 2017-02-10 — Reel 038597/0861

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: ZEST LABS, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP. This correspondent also handled the prior assignment.
  • Context: Legal name change of the assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10445684B2
    2015 : Priority date
    2016 : Filed by Zest Labs Inc
         : Assigned to Intelleflex Corp
    2017 : Intelleflex changes to Zest Labs
    2019 : Issued to Zest Labs Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The initial transfer was from individual inventors to Intelleflex Corporation, which subsequently changed its name to Zest Labs, Inc. This does not indicate a transfer to a shell entity for licensing purposes.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither Intelleflex Corporation nor Zest Labs, Inc. are identified as known NPEs in public lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP is listed as the correspondent for both the initial assignment (Reel 037563/0187) and the subsequent change of name (Reel 038597/0861).
4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only two assignments are recorded, one of which is a name change, over a period of several months, which does not constitute cascading transfers in a short timeframe.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. No litigation has been identified for this patent.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy for the assignor or assignee.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information in the provided text to determine if this pattern is present.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current assignee is Zest Labs, Inc., not a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While there is a repeat correspondent, which can sometimes be a weak signal in NPE patterns, there is no evidence of shell-entity transfers, known asserters, cascading transfers, or pre-litigation transfers. The patent remains with the entity that appears to be the original corporate assignee (after a name change), and there is no identified litigation. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to confidently classify this patent as being asserted by an NPE.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/