Assignment history

Inventors

• Joon Bae KIM
• Marcos C. Tzannes
  The patent application (US16/780,589) was filed on 2020-02-03 by Applied Transform LLC, which is also listed as the original assignee. The priority date for the invention dates back to 2009-08-21, via a chain of continuations originating from U.S. Patent Application No. 61/235,909. No specific employer information for the inventors at the time of the original invention or the 2020 filing is explicitly stated beyond their association with Applied Transform LLC as the applicant.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent US10917272 is Applied Transform LLC.

• Products: Applied Transform LLC does not appear to ship products embodying the claims. Its primary activities, as suggested by public records and NPE tracking organizations, are related to patent acquisition, licensing, and assertion.
• Primary line of business: Patent licensing and assertion.
• Current status: Operating, actively involved in intellectual property management and litigation.

Assignment timeline

• 2021-08-30 (executed) / recorded 2021-09-08 — Reel 058309/0173

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: APPLIED TRANSFORM, LLC
  • Assignee: AX WIRELESS LLC
  • Correspondent: PETER C. WONG, WONG, CABELLO, LUTSCH, GATZ & CROSS, L.L.P., 1000 LOUISIANA SUITE 2000, HOUSTON, TX, 77002. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter from one identified Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) to another.

• 2024-10-09 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-18 — Reel 064371/0951

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: APPLIED TRANSFORM, LLC
  • Assignee: AX Wireless, LLC
  • Correspondent: PETER C. WONG, WONG, CABELLO, LUTSCH, GATZ & CROSS, L.L.P., 1000 LOUISIANA SUITE 2000, HOUSTON, TX, 77002. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Reassignment or clarification from the original assignee to an entity with a nearly identical name, likely related to the prior transfer.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10917272
    2020 : Filed by Applied Transform LLC
    2021 : Issued
         : Assigned to AX Wireless LLC
    2022 : First infringement suit filed
    2024 : Reassigned to AX Wireless LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer
   • Present. Applied Transform LLC, the original assignee, is widely recognized as a patent licensing and assertion entity, not a product-shipping company. The patent was subsequently assigned to AX Wireless LLC (Reel 058309/0173, executed 2021-08-30; Reel 064371/0951, executed 2024-10-09), which is also identified as an NPE.
2. Known asserter in the chain
   • Present. Both the original assignee, Applied Transform LLC, and the current assignee, AX Wireless LLC, are identified as Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) by Unified Patents.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain
   • Present. Peter C. Wong of Wong, Cabello, Lutsch, Gatz & Cross, L.L.P. is listed as the correspondent for both recorded assignments (Reel 058309/0173, executed 2021-08-30; Reel 064371/0951, executed 2024-10-09), indicating a consistent legal representative for the transfers.
4. Cascading transfers
   • Not present. Only two assignments are recorded, both originating from the same assignor (Applied Transform LLC) to the same or very similarly named assignee (AX Wireless LLC) over a three-year period, which does not constitute cascading transfers through multiple chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer
   • Present. The first assignment to AX Wireless LLC was executed on 2021-08-30 (Reel 058309/0173). According to Google Patents, litigation involving this patent family commenced in 2022 (e.g., case 2:22-cv-00280), which followed the assignment. This indicates the transfer occurred prior to, or in close proximity to, the initiation of assertion activities.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale
   • Not present. There is no indication from the provided information or public records that any entity in the assignment chain underwent bankruptcy proceedings leading to the patent transfers.
7. Privateering
   • Unclear. While the overall pattern aligns with an operating company potentially using an NPE for assertion, there is no direct, publicly available evidence (such as SEC filings or specific industry reports) explicitly describing such a privateering arrangement for this patent or its assignees. Applied Transform LLC itself operates as an NPE.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE)
   • Not present. The patent is currently held by AX Wireless LLC, an entity identified as an NPE, not a defensive aggregator like RPX or Unified Patents.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: both the original assignee, Applied Transform LLC, and the current assignee, AX Wireless LLC, are identified as known Non-Practicing Entities. Furthermore, the assignment executed on 2021-08-30 (Reel 058309/0173) occurred before the documented litigation for the patent family began in 2022, and the same correspondent attorney, Peter C. Wong of Wong, Cabello, Lutsch, Gatz & Cross, L.L.P., handled both recorded assignments, indicating a consistent strategy for the portfolio.

USPTO Assignment Center search for verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/