Patent 11037093

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. 2019-03-20 · recorded 2019-04-01 · reel 048753/0628 · Assignment

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

    Correspondent: · KUTAK ROCK

    Transfer of rights from individual inventors to the corporate entity prior to patent application filing.

  2. 2019-03-27 · recorded 2019-04-01 · reel 048753/0627 · 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. (formerly Intelleflex Corporation)
  • Thomas C. Reese: Zest Labs Inc. (formerly Intelleflex Corporation)
  • Dean M. Kawaguchi: Zest Labs Inc. (formerly Intelleflex Corporation)
  • Sameer Dekate: Zest Labs Inc. (formerly Intelleflex Corporation)
  • Russell Shikami: Zest Labs Inc. (formerly Intelleflex Corporation)

All inventors were associated with Intelleflex Corporation, which subsequently changed its name to Zest Labs Inc. shortly after the patent application was filed. There are no unusual patterns indicating a mass departure of inventors preceding a portfolio sale.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Zest Labs Inc.
Zest Labs Inc. developed and marketed freshness management technology, specifically their "Zest Fresh" platform, for the fresh food industry. This platform monitors and analyzes the remaining shelf-life of fresh produce from harvest to retail, embodying the claims of actively managing food delivery conditions.

Zest Labs Inc. was acquired by Post Holdings, Inc. in March 2020 and now operates as part of Post Holdings' Integrated Fresh Foods segment. Therefore, it is currently operating as a subsidiary.

Assignment timeline

  • 2019-03-20 (executed) / recorded 2019-04-01 — Reel 048753/0628

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: KAWAGUCHI, DEAN M., REESE, THOMAS C., SHIKAMI, RUSSELL, DEKATE, SAMEER, MEHRING, PETER A. (all inventors)
    • Assignee: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
    • Correspondent: KUTAK ROCK LLP - 16982, 1801 California Street, Suite 2200, Denver, CO, 80202. This correspondent also appears on the subsequent name change record.
    • Context: Transfer of rights from individual inventors to the corporate entity prior to patent application filing.

  • 2019-03-27 (executed) / recorded 2019-04-01 — Reel 048753/0627

    • Conveyance: CHANGE OF NAME
    • Assignor: INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION
    • Assignee: ZEST LABS, INC.
    • Correspondent: KUTAK ROCK LLP - 16982, 1801 California Street, Suite 2200, Denver, CO, 80202. This correspondent also appears on the preceding assignment record.
    • Context: Corporate name change from INTELLEFLEX CORPORATION to ZEST LABS, INC.

There are no other recorded assignments for US11037093 in the USPTO Assignment Center subsequent to these initial recordings related to the application and name change. The patent's ownership effectively passed to Post Holdings, Inc. via its acquisition of Zest Labs Inc. in March 2020.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11037093
    2019 : Inventors assign to Intelleflex Corp
         : Intelleflex changes name to Zest Labs Inc
    2020 : Zest Labs Inc acquired by Post Holdings
    2021 : Patent issued

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers involve the original inventors to an operating company (Intelleflex/Zest Labs) and a corporate name change. Zest Labs Inc. was an operating company that developed and marketed relevant technology.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Neither Intelleflex Corporation, Zest Labs Inc., nor Post Holdings, Inc. are identified as known NPEs on public lists.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present (in an NPE sense). KUTAK ROCK LLP - 16982 handled both initial recordings (Reel 048753/0628 and 048753/0627). This indicates consistent legal representation for the same corporate entity during its initial patenting and branding phases, not recurrent representation for a series of distinct shell entities.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only two initial assignments are recorded, both within a short period and related to the establishment of the original operating company's ownership.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. No litigation records are indicated, and the assignments occurred at the inception of the patent application process, not in proximity to any assertion.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Zest Labs Inc. was acquired by Post Holdings, Inc. in an operating acquisition, not through bankruptcy proceedings.
  7. Privateering — Unclear. While Zest Labs Inc. was acquired by a larger operating company (Post Holdings), there is no public information or SEC filing evidence to suggest that this patent has been transferred to an NPE to assert on Post Holdings' behalf.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.
The patent's ownership began with the inventors assigning to Intelleflex Corporation (which became Zest Labs Inc. via name change as recorded in Reel 048753/0628 and 048753/0627). Zest Labs Inc. was an operating company with a product line (Zest Fresh) that directly embodied the claims of the patent. The subsequent acquisition of Zest Labs Inc. by Post Holdings, Inc. in March 2020 further indicates a legitimate transfer within an operating company context. There are no signals of shell entities, known asserters, or other NPE patterns.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US11037093B2

Generated 7/2/2026, 6:45:53 PM