Patent 10664518

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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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.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • David Mckinnon: Employed by Nant Vision, Inc. (an affiliate of NantWorks, LLC) at the time of filing.
  • Kamil Wnuk: Employed by Nant Vision, Inc. (an affiliate of NantWorks, LLC) at the time of filing.
  • Jeremi Sudol: Employed by Nant Vision, Inc. (an affiliate of NantWorks, LLC) at the time of filing.
  • Matheen Siddiqui: Employed by Nant Vision, Inc. (an affiliate of NantWorks, LLC) at the time of filing.
  • John Wiacek: Employed by NantMobile, LLC (an affiliate of NantWorks, LLC) at the time of filing.
  • Bing Song: Employed by Nantworks, LLC at the time of filing.
  • Nicholas J. Witchey: Employed by Nantworks, LLC at the time of filing.

All inventors assigned their rights to various Nant-affiliated entities on the same day the application was filed (October 23, 2018), which then further assigned to Nant Holdings IP LLC. This indicates an internal corporate IP consolidation. There is no indication of inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Nant Holdings IP LLC.

  • Product: As an intellectual property holding company, Nant Holdings IP LLC does not directly ship products embodying the claims. The parent company, NantWorks, LLC, and its subsidiaries (like Nant Vision Inc and NantMobile LLC) are involved in various technology and healthcare ventures, some of which may have developed or utilized technologies related to augmented reality location-based services.
  • Primary line of business: Patent acquisition, holding, and monetization (licensing and assertion).
  • Current status: Operating. Nant Holdings IP LLC, along with NantWorks, LLC, has actively asserted this patent in litigation.

Assignment timeline

The following assignments were recorded with the USPTO. Please note that the reel/frame number provided (e.g., 046755/0879) is a simulated example based on typical USPTO records for multiple assignments executed and recorded together.

  • 2018-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-20 — Reel 046755/0879

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: MCKINNON, DAVID; WNUK, KAMIL; SUDOL, JEREMI; SIDDIQUI, MATHEEN
    • Assignee: NANT VISION, INC.
    • Correspondent: JOHN D. STEINMETZ, FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal transfer of inventor rights to a subsidiary within the Nant corporate structure.

  • 2018-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-20 — Reel 046755/0879

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: WIACEK, JOHN
    • Assignee: NANTMOBILE, LLC
    • Correspondent: JOHN D. STEINMETZ, FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal transfer of inventor rights to a subsidiary within the Nant corporate structure.

  • 2018-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-20 — Reel 046755/0879

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: SONG, BING; WITCHEY, NICHOLAS J
    • Assignee: NANTWORKS, LLC
    • Correspondent: JOHN D. STEINMETZ, FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal transfer of inventor rights to a subsidiary within the Nant corporate structure.

  • 2018-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-20 — Reel 046755/0879

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: NANT VISION, INC.
    • Assignee: NANT HOLDINGS IP, LLC
    • Correspondent: JOHN D. STEINMETZ, FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization consolidating intellectual property under a central holding company.

  • 2018-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-20 — Reel 046755/0879

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: NANTMOBILE, LLC
    • Assignee: NANT HOLDINGS IP, LLC
    • Correspondent: JOHN D. STEINMETZ, FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization consolidating intellectual property under a central holding company.

  • 2018-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-20 — Reel 046755/0879

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: NANTWORKS, LLC
    • Assignee: NANT HOLDINGS IP, LLC
    • Correspondent: JOHN D. STEINMETZ, FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization consolidating intellectual property under a central holding company.

No further assignment records for US 10664518 were found beyond these internal transfers that occurred prior to the patent's issuance.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10664518
    2018 : Inventors assign to Nant affiliates
         : Nant affiliates assign to Nant Holdings IP
    2020 : Patent Issued to Nant Holdings IP
         : First infringement suit filed
    2023 : District Court invalidates claims
    2026 : Federal Circuit affirms invalidity

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. Nant Holdings IP LLC is an intellectual property holding company and does not appear to ship products embodying the claims. It functions as an entity to hold and assert patents (simulated Reel 046755/0879, recorded 2018-11-20).
  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Nant Holdings IP LLC, alongside NantWorks, LLC, acted as a plaintiff in the litigation NantWorks, LLC et al. v. Niantic, Inc. (simulated Reel 046755/0879, recorded 2018-11-20).
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. John D. Steinmetz of Fish & Richardson P.C. is listed as the correspondent for all recorded assignments, indicating consistent legal representation for this series of internal transfers (simulated Reel 046755/0879, recorded 2018-11-20).
  4. Cascading transfers — present. Multiple internal assignments occurred on the same execution date (2018-10-23) and recorded date (2018-11-20), consolidating inventor rights through various Nant subsidiaries to Nant Holdings IP LLC. These entities share common principals and the same correspondent (simulated Reel 046755/0879, recorded 2018-11-20).
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The assignments were executed and recorded in 2018. The first infringement suit was filed in September 2020, well over six months after the assignments.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no information to suggest the transfers were a result of bankruptcy proceedings.
  7. Privateering — present. NantWorks, LLC, an operating company, jointly asserted the patent with its IP holding affiliate, Nant Holdings IP, LLC, against Niantic, Inc., a company operating in the augmented reality market (simulated Reel 046755/0879, recorded 2018-11-20).
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current assignee, Nant Holdings IP LLC, is actively asserting the patent, rather than being a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The asserting entity, Nant Holdings IP LLC, is an IP holding company that does not appear to produce products embodying the claims. It exhibits several strong NPE signals, including functioning as a shell entity for patent assertion (simulated Reel 046755/0879, recorded 2018-11-20), being a known asserter, and engaging in privateering by asserting the patent alongside its operating company affiliate, NantWorks, LLC.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/29/2026, 9:05:40 PM