Assignment history

Inventors

The inventors named on US10998017 are Der-Min Yuan, Yen-An Chang, and Wei-Ming Huang. At the time of filing (2018-10-04), they were presumably employed by the original assignee, Etron Technology Inc.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Etron Technology Inc. Etron Technology Inc. is a known semiconductor memory manufacturer, publicly traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, and is an operating company that likely shipped products embodying dynamic random access memory (DRAM) components, which is the subject matter of the patent. The company has since assigned its interest in this patent.

Assignment timeline

The full assignment record for US10998017, sourced from the USPTO Assignment Center, is as follows:

• 2023-05-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-09-08 — Reel 072191/0362
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: ETRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
  • Assignee: VALUECREATION TECHNOLOGY, INC.
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey B. Love, JR., Love Law Firm, LLC, 13785 Research Blvd Suite 125, Austin, TX 78750. This correspondent also appears in the subsequent assignment in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer from original operating company assignee to an intermediate entity.
• 2023-08-04 (executed) / recorded 2025-09-11 — Reel 072228/0288
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: VALUECREATION TECHNOLOGY, INC.
  • Assignee: WECREVENTION, INC.
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey B. Love, JR., Love Law Firm, LLC, 13785 Research Blvd Suite 125, Austin, TX 78750. This correspondent also appeared in the prior assignment in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer from an intermediate entity to the current asserting entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10998017
    2018 : Filed by Etron Technology Inc
    2021 : Issued
    2023 : Executed to Valuecreation Tech
         : Executed to Wecrevention Inc
    2025 : Recorded to Valuecreation Tech
         : Recorded to Wecrevention Inc
         : First infringement suits filed
    2026 : IPR filed by Apple

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from Etron Technology Inc., an operating company, to VALUECREATION TECHNOLOGY, INC. (Reel 072191/0362, recorded 2025-09-08), and subsequently to WECREVENTION, INC. (Reel 072228/0288, recorded 2025-09-11). WECREVENTION, INC. is identified by Unified Patents as an NPE, and neither Valuecreation Technology Inc. nor Wecrevention Inc. appear to produce products embodying the claims.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. WECREVENTION, INC. is the current assignee (Reel 072228/0288, recorded 2025-09-11) and is identified by Unified Patents as a non-practicing entity (NPE) involved in ongoing litigation in Texas District Courts and an IPR challenge related to this patent.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Jeffrey B. Love, JR. of Love Law Firm, LLC (13785 Research Blvd Suite 125, Austin, TX 78750) is the correspondent of record for both assignments: from Etron Technology Inc. to VALUECREATION TECHNOLOGY, INC. (Reel 072191/0362) and from VALUECREATION TECHNOLOGY, INC. to WECREVENTION, INC. (Reel 072228/0288).

4. Cascading transfers — Present. Two assignments were recorded within days of each other (Reel 072191/0362 on 2025-09-08 and Reel 072228/0288 on 2025-09-11). The execution dates were also relatively close (2023-05-18 and 2023-08-04, respectively), both within a three-month period, consistent with a rapid transfer through a chain of entities.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The execution dates of the assignments (2023-05-18 and 2023-08-04) are not within six months before the first known infringement suits, which were filed in 2025. While the recording dates (September 2025) are close to the 2025 litigation filings, the execution dates are the primary indicator for this signal.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication that Etron Technology Inc. or any subsequent assignee in the chain filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Etron Technology Inc. transferred the patent to an NPE, there is no public information available to suggest a privateering arrangement where Etron is secretly funding Wecrevention Inc.'s assertion efforts.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with WECREVENTION, INC., which is an NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the transfer from an operating company (Etron Technology Inc.) through an intermediate entity to WECREVENTION, INC., which is a known patent assertion entity actively engaged in litigation; the repeated appearance of the same correspondent attorney for both transfers; and the cascading nature of the assignments recorded within days of each other in September 2025 (Reel 072191/0362 and Reel 072228/0288).

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