Assignment history

Inventors

• Mark B Barron (Employer at time of filing: CONSUMERON LLC - implied, as original assignee and inventor)
• Michael Hays (Employer at time of filing: CONSUMERON LLC - implied, as original assignee and inventor)

Note: While patent law generally vests initial ownership in the inventor, employment agreements often transfer these rights to the employer, especially if the employee was hired to invent or used company resources. Given that CONSUMERON LLC is the original assignee, it is implied that the inventors were employed by or had an agreement with CONSUMERON LLC to assign their rights.

Original assignee

The original assignee is CONSUMERON LLC.

CONSUMERON LLC operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in selected parts of Los Angeles, utilizing a personal shopper model with real-time communication via video, text, or call within their app. They claim to offer "on-demand accuracy" and "personal assistance made affordable" by enabling customers to have direct contact with their "Assistants" (delivery agents) to ensure they get exactly what they need, including viewing substitute items and shopping from any retailer. They also market their barcode technology and mobile telepresence for accurate merchandise identification and approval.

CONSUMERON LLC is currently operating, as evidenced by their active website detailing their services, app downloads, and ongoing litigation.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) currently shows no recorded assignments for US patent 10628835. This indicates that the original assignee, CONSUMERON LLC, still owns the patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10628835
    2011 : Filed by CONSUMERON LLC
    2020 : Issued to CONSUMERON LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The patent remains with the original assignee, CONSUMERON LLC, which appears to be an operating company providing a grocery and general delivery service.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. CONSUMERON LLC is not identified as a known asserter on public NPE lists within the provided information. However, they are actively involved in litigation against Maplebear Inc. (Instacart).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Since there are no recorded assignments, there is no chain to observe a repeat correspondent.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no recorded assignments.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While CONSUMERON LLC is involved in active litigation, there are no recorded assignments to assess if a transfer occurred within 6 months of the first suit.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication that CONSUMERON LLC has filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. While CONSUMERON LLC is asserting its patent against a competitor (Instacart/Maplebear Inc.), there is no evidence of a transfer to an NPE on their behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by CONSUMERON LLC, which is actively asserting it.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. CONSUMERON LLC, the original assignee, appears to be an operating company that provides a remote acquisition and delivery service. They are actively involved in litigation, asserting this patent against Maplebear Inc. (Instacart), a competitor in the delivery service market. The absence of recorded assignments on the USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) confirms that CONSUMERON LLC retains ownership and is asserting its own patent.