Assignment history

Inventors

• Paul Erich Keel: At the time of the underlying priority application filing in 2004, Dr. Keel was conducting research at MIT's Design and Computation program, focusing on computer-supported collaborative work.
• Jeffrey Huang: No employer information at the time of filing is readily determinable from the provided search results. Jeffrey Huang is listed as a patent litigation lawyer in Los Angeles, CA, and a supervising attorney at Bay Immigration Law in Palo Alto, CA. However, this information pertains to his legal career and does not definitively indicate his employer at the time of the patent's priority filing.

Unusual patterns: The original priority date for this patent is April 29, 2004. The patent itself was filed on October 15, 2019, and granted on June 15, 2021. The period between the priority date and the filing date of the present patent is substantial (over 15 years). This long gap, coupled with the fact that Paul Erich Keel later assigned his interest to Cogmedia LLC (the current assignee), suggests a potential delay in commercialization by the original inventors or a strategic decision to hold the patent and then monetize it later.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on Google Patents, appears to be "Individual". However, the patent's filing history indicates that the application was filed by "Individual" and later assigned to Paul Erich Keel in 2020. In 2024, it was assigned to Cogmedia LLC. The "Current Assignee" on Google Patents is Cogmedia LLC.

Cogmedia LLC has recently filed an infringement suit against Meta Platforms, Inc., asserting this patent. The lawsuit alleges that Meta's "Wall," "Timeline," and/or "Newsfeed" features infringe the patent claims. This indicates that Cogmedia LLC is asserting the patent claims rather than shipping a product embodying them. The primary line of business for Cogmedia LLC, based on the litigation, appears to be patent assertion. Its current status is operating, as it is actively engaged in litigation.

Assignment timeline

There are no recorded assignments for this patent in the USPTO Assignment Center search results beyond what is visible on Google Patents legal events. The Google Patents legal events indicate the following:

• 2020-01-17 / recorded 2020-01-17 (approximate, based on publication date and "Assigned to KEEL, PAUL ERICH" event on Google Patents)
  • Conveyance: Reassignment
  • Assignor: HUANG, JEFFREY
  • Assignee: KEEL, PAUL ERICH
  • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents event.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest.
• 2024-08-13 / recorded 2024-08-13 (approximate, based on publication date and "Assigned to COGMEDIA LLC" event on Google Patents)
  • Conveyance: Reassignment
  • Assignor: KEEL, PAUL ERICH
  • Assignee: COGMEDIA LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents event.
  • Context: Transfer from inventor to an LLC.
• 2025-07-29 / recorded 2025-07-29 (approximate, based on publication date and "Assigned to PLF 2025-A LP" event on Google Patents)
  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: COGMEDIA LLC
  • Assignee: PLF 2025-A LP
  • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents event.
  • Context: Securitization of the patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11036371
    2004 : Priority application filed
    2019 : Application filed
    2020 : Assigned to Paul Erich Keel
    2021 : Patent issued
    2024 : Assigned to Cogmedia LLC
    2025 : Security interest to PLF 2025-A LP
         : Infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was transferred from individual inventor Paul Erich Keel to Cogmedia LLC in 2024. Cogmedia LLC has a principal place of business in the Boston metro area c/o Sunstein LLP, a law firm, which is a common indicator of a shell entity. Furthermore, Cogmedia LLC is currently asserting the patent in litigation against Meta Platforms, Inc. and does not appear to ship products embodying the claims.
2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. While Cogmedia LLC is actively asserting the patent, it does not currently match any of the explicitly listed "known asserters" in the prompt's examples. However, RPX has noted Cogmedia LLC as an "Inventor-Controlled Plaintiff" that has launched litigation.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. The Google Patents legal events do not specify correspondent attorney information for the assignments listed.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are three transfers over a period of five years, which does not indicate multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs in a short timeframe.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to Cogmedia LLC on August 13, 2024. Cogmedia LLC filed an infringement suit against Meta Platforms, Inc. on July 30, 2025. This is within 12 months of the assignment to Cogmedia LLC, suggesting the transfer was arranged to enable assertion. RPX also explicitly states that the transfer prefigured the launch of litigation.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the provided information that the original assignee or any subsequent assignor filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. While Cogmedia LLC is asserting the patent, there is no explicit information in the provided context to suggest it is doing so on behalf of an operating company against competitors (i.e., privateering).
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The transfer from an individual inventor to Cogmedia LLC, a company whose address is a law firm, and its subsequent patent assertion against Meta Platforms Inc. are strong indicators. The pre-litigation transfer from Paul Erich Keel to Cogmedia LLC and the recognition by RPX of Cogmedia LLC as an "Inventor-Controlled Plaintiff" launching litigation further support this conclusion. The current litigation can be verified at the USPTO Assignment Center by searching for patent 11036371 (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/).