Patent 11037092B2

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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Ownership chain (2)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2019-04-01 · reel 047649/0517 · Assignment of Assignors Interest

    KAWAGUCHI, DEAN M., REESE, Thomas C., SHIKAMI, Russell, DEKATE, Sameer, MEHRING, PETER A.INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION

    Correspondent: · KUTAK ROCK

    Transfer of inventor interests to a corporate entity.

  2. 2019-04-01 · reel 047649/0520 · Change of Name

    INTELLEFLEX CORPORATIONZEST LABS, INC.

    Correspondent: · KUTAK ROCK

    Corporate name change.

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

  • Peter A. Mehring (Zest Labs Inc)
  • Thomas C. Reese (Zest Labs Inc)
  • Dean M. Kawaguchi (Zest Labs Inc)
  • Sameer Dekate (Zest Labs Inc)
  • Russell Shikami (Zest Labs Inc)

All inventors were employed by Zest Labs Inc at the time of filing. There is no immediate indication of all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent is Zest Labs Inc.

Zest Labs Inc. is involved in developing and marketing post-harvest food quality management solutions, suggesting they likely shipped products or services embodying the claims. Their primary line of business appears to be in fresh food technology and supply chain management.

According to Google Patents, the current legal status of the patent is "Active" and the current assignee is "Zest Labs Inc". This indicates Zest Labs Inc is still operating and holds the patent.

Assignment timeline

  • 2019-04-01 (executed) / recorded 2019-04-01 — Reel 047649/0517

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: KAWAGUCHI, DEAN M., REESE, Thomas C., SHIKAMI, Russell, DEKATE, Sameer, MEHRING, PETER A.
    • Assignee: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
    • Correspondent: KUTAK ROCK LLP, 1801 L STREET NW, SUITE 1000, WASHINGTON, DC 20036
    • Context: Transfer of inventor interests to a corporate entity.

  • 2019-04-01 (executed) / recorded 2019-04-01 — Reel 047649/0520

    • Conveyance: Change of Name
    • Assignor: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
    • Assignee: ZEST LABS, INC.
    • Correspondent: KUTAK ROCK LLP, 1801 L STREET NW, SUITE 1000, WASHINGTON, DC 20036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Corporate name change.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11037092B2
    2019 : Inventors assigned to Intelleflex Corp
         : Intelleflex Corp changed name to Zest Labs Inc
    2021 : Issued to Zest Labs Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The assignments show a transfer from inventors to Intelleflex Corporation, which then underwent a name change to Zest Labs Inc. Zest Labs Inc. appears to be an operating company in the food technology sector.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither Intelleflex Corporation nor Zest Labs Inc. appear on common NPE lists.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. KUTAK ROCK LLP, specifically at 1801 L STREET NW, SUITE 1000, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, is listed as the correspondent for both the initial assignment from the inventors to Intelleflex Corporation (Reel 047649/0517) and the subsequent name change from Intelleflex Corporation to Zest Labs, Inc. (Reel 047649/0520).
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two recorded assignments, both on the same day, indicating an internal restructuring/name change rather than multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. There is no indication of litigation for this patent, so a pre-litigation transfer cannot be determined.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No evidence suggests a bankruptcy sale.
  7. Privateering — not present. No evidence indicates privateering activity.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain terminates with Zest Labs Inc., an operating company.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While KUTAK ROCK LLP appears as a repeat correspondent, which can sometimes be a weak signal in NPE patterns, there is no other evidence of shell entities, known NPEs, cascading transfers, or litigation to support an NPE verdict. The patent currently remains with the original assignee, Zest Labs Inc., which is an operating company.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 7/2/2026, 6:47:36 PM