Assignment history

Inventors

• Paul Howard (Employer at time of filing not determinable from the patent text or available public records).

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Intellectual Ventures II LLC. Intellectual Ventures is an American private equity company that focuses on the development and licensing of intellectual property. Their business model involves buying and aggregating patents into large portfolios, then licensing these patents to third parties or seeking legal damages for infringement. Intellectual Ventures has been described as a "patent licensing firm" and has created spinout companies to commercialize some of its inventions. As of 2011, Intellectual Ventures was one of the top-five owners of U.S. patents. Their current status is operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2012-04-27 (executed) / recorded 2020-07-09 — Reel 053170/0486
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: IPWIRELESS, INC.
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES HOLDING 81 LLC, NEVADA
  • Correspondent: Not specified in available data
  • Context: Transfer to a holding company related to Intellectual Ventures.
• 2017-05-19 (executed) / recorded 2020-07-09 — Reel 053164/0647
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES HOLDING 81 LLC
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES II LLC, DELAWARE
  • Correspondent: Not specified in available data
  • Context: Internal reorganization/transfer within the Intellectual Ventures family of entities.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11032000
    2019 : Filed by Intellectual Ventures II LLC
    2020 : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures Holding 81 LLC
         : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures II LLC
    2021 : Issued

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from IPWIRELESS, INC. to INTELLECTUAL VENTURES HOLDING 81 LLC, and then to INTELLECTUAL VENTURES II LLC. Both "Holding" and "II LLC" in the names, coupled with Intellectual Ventures' known business model of patent monetization, strongly suggest these are licensing-only entities. (Reel 053170/0486 and 053164/0647)
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Intellectual Ventures II LLC is the current assignee and is widely recognized as a patent assertion entity (PAE) or "patent troll". They are involved in numerous litigation cases and have a business model focused on patent licensing and assertion.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The available information from the Google Patents legal events and the USPTO assignment records for these specific transfers does not explicitly list the correspondent attorney or firm for these assignments.
4. Cascading transfers — Present. There are two assignments recorded on the same day (2020-07-09) with execution dates of 2012-04-27 and 2017-05-19. These consecutive transfers within the Intellectual Ventures family of entities indicate a cascading transfer pattern. (Reel 053170/0486 and 053164/0647)
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The filing date of the patent (2019-11-13) and the assignment dates (executed 2012 and 2017, recorded 2020) precede the issue date (2021-06-08). While there is ongoing litigation involving Intellectual Ventures II LLC generally, the provided information does not indicate a direct pre-litigation transfer specific to this patent within six months of its first assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings for IPWIRELESS, INC. or Intellectual Ventures entities in the provided information.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Intellectual Ventures engages in extensive patent assertion, the specific details of this particular patent's origins or its transfer from IPWIRELESS, INC. do not definitively point to a privateering arrangement based on the provided data.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with Intellectual Ventures II LLC, which is a known NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
This verdict is based on multiple strong signals. The current assignee, Intellectual Ventures II LLC, is a well-documented patent assertion entity with a business model centered on patent licensing and litigation. The presence of "Holding" and "II LLC" in the assignee names, coupled with the cascading transfers between Intellectual Ventures-related entities (Reel 053170/0486 and 053164/0647), further indicates a shell-entity transfer pattern.

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