Patent 10609904

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (2)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2021-08-10 · reel 057137/0502 · Assignment

    WOLFGRAM, MEGHAN; RITTER, JOHNSWIFT PAWS, LLC, FLORIDA

    Transfer of inventors' interest to Swift Paws, LLC

  2. 2021-08-11 · reel 057147/0767 · Assignment

    Swift Paws, LLCSWIFT PAWS, LLC, FLORIDA

    Correspondent: John Ritter

    internal reorg

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Inventors

  • Meghan Wolfgram (Employer: Swift Paws LLC at the time of filing)
  • John Ritter (Employer: Swift Paws LLC at the time of filing)

Original assignee

The original assignee, Swift Paws LLC, is a developer of pet enrichment products. The company designs and sells lure chasing systems for exercising dogs and other animals. Their flagship products include the "CHASE!", "Home Original," and "Home Plus" lure course kits, along with related accessories like pulleys, lines, and lures. Swift Paws Inc. (the current assignee) offers these products, and the original assignee, Swift Paws LLC, appears to have been the predecessor entity. Swift Paws, Inc. is currently operating and actively selling products that embody the claims of the patent. Meghan Wolfgram, one of the inventors, is the CEO and founder of Swift Paws.

Assignment timeline

  • 2021-08-10 (executed) / recorded 2021-08-10 — Reel 057137/0502

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: WOLFGRAM, MEGHAN; RITTER, JOHN
    • Assignee: SWIFT PAWS, LLC, FLORIDA
    • Correspondent: NOT AVAILABLE
    • Context: Transfer of inventors' interest to Swift Paws, LLC

  • 2021-08-11 (executed) / recorded 2021-08-11 — Reel 057147/0767

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Swift Paws, LLC
    • Assignee: SWIFT PAWS, INC., FLORIDA
    • Correspondent: John Ritter, 111 E. Ocean Blvd., Suite 200, Long Beach, CA 90802. This correspondent appears multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer from LLC to Inc. entity, likely internal reorg

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10609904
    2014 : Filed by Swift Paws LLC
    2020 : Issued to Swift Paws LLC
    2021 : Inventors to Swift Paws LLC
         : Swift Paws LLC to Swift Paws Inc
    2024 : First infringement suit filed
    2026 : Appeal to CAFC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. Both Swift Paws LLC and Swift Paws Inc. appear to be operating companies selling products related to the patent.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither Swift Paws LLC nor Swift Paws Inc. appear on common NPE lists.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. John Ritter is listed as the correspondent for the assignment from Swift Paws, LLC to SWIFT PAWS, INC., FLORIDA (Reel 057147/0767). John Ritter is also one of the named inventors. This suggests a consistent legal representative managing the patent assignments within the Swift Paws entities.

  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two recorded assignments, both occurring within a day of each other and representing transfers between closely related entities (inventors to LLC, then LLC to Inc.).

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The assignments occurred in August 2021. The earliest identified litigation (3:24-cv-00838) was filed in July 2024, well over six months after the assignments.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings for Swift Paws LLC or Swift Paws Inc.

  7. Privateering — not present. Swift Paws Inc. is asserting the patent on its own behalf.

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

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.

The current assignee, Swift Paws Inc., is an operating company that manufactures and sells lure chasing systems for pets. The assignment timeline shows transfers between the individual inventors and the initial corporate entity, and then to the current corporate entity, Swift Paws Inc., consistent with internal corporate structuring for a product-shipping company. [cite: 057137/0502, 057147/0767] The ongoing litigation also indicates that Swift Paws Inc. is actively enforcing its patent rights as an operating company against alleged infringers.

Generated 5/30/2026, 6:45:16 PM