Patent 11087385

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 (3)

Asserters network →

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

2019-08-28 · recorded 2019-09-06 · reel 050307/0438 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
KENNEWICK, MICHAEL R., SR.VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
Correspondent: MICHAEL R KENNEWICK
Inventor assigns intellectual property to the original operating company
2019-08-28 · recorded 2019-09-06 · reel 050307/0441 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION VB ASSETS, LLC
Correspondent: MICHAEL R KENNEWICK
Transfer of patent assets from an acquired operating company to a new entity for assertion
2025-04-08 · recorded 2025-04-09 · reel 065596/0200 · SECURITY AGREEMENT
VB ASSETS, LLC CONTINGENCY CAPITAL FUND A LP
Correspondent: ROBERT E ALFORD · BRAGALONG & ASSOCIATES
Securitization of patent assets by a licensing entity

Assignment history

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Inventors

The named inventor is Michael R. Kennewick, SR. At the time of the patent application's filing (August 28, 2019), Michael R. Kennewick, SR. was the CEO and co-founder of Voicebox Technologies, Inc.. Voicebox Technologies, Inc. was an operating company specializing in speech recognition and natural language technologies.

Original assignee

The entity named as the current assignee on the issued patent US11087385 is VB Assets LLC. Voicebox Technologies Corporation, the original developer of the underlying technology, was acquired by Nuance Communications in May 2018. Following this acquisition, VB Assets LLC was formed by former employees and investors of Voicebox Technologies to manage and license a portfolio of intellectual property, including patents derived from Voicebox's innovations. VB Assets LLC explicitly states its current focus is on "licensing, enforcing, and expanding its patent portfolio" and does not appear to ship products embodying the claims. Voicebox Technologies Corporation, however, did ship products embodying the claims, such as voice AI platforms used in consumer electronics, IoT devices, and cars for clients like Toyota and Samsung. Voicebox Technologies Inc. is now acquired/merged, while VB Assets LLC operates as an active patent licensing and assertion entity.

Assignment timeline

2019-08-28 (executed) / recorded 2019-09-06 — Reel 050307/0438
- Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
- Assignor: KENNEWICK, MICHAEL R., SR.
- Assignee: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
- Correspondent: MICHAEL R KENNEWICK, MICHAEL KENNEWICK, 13700 NE 20TH ST #M-60, BELLEVUE, WA 98005. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
- Context: Inventor assigns intellectual property to the original operating company.
2019-08-28 (executed) / recorded 2019-09-06 — Reel 050307/0441
- Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
- Assignor: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
- Assignee: VB ASSETS, LLC
- Correspondent: MICHAEL R KENNEWICK, MICHAEL KENNEWICK, 13700 NE 20TH ST #M-60, BELLEVUE, WA 98005. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
- Context: Transfer of patent assets from an acquired operating company to a new entity for assertion.
2025-04-08 (executed) / recorded 2025-04-09 — Reel 065596/0200
- Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
- Assignor: VB ASSETS LLC
- Assignee: CONTINGENCY CAPITAL FUND A LP
- Correspondent: ROBERT E ALFORD, BRAGALONG & ASSOCIATES, PC, 1916 LAKEVIEW CIRCLE, FLOWER MOUND TX 75028.
- Context: Securitization of patent assets by a licensing entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11087385
    2014 : Provisional filed by Voicebox Tech
    2018 : Voicebox acquired by Nuance
    2019 : Inventor assigns to Voicebox Tech
         : Voicebox Tech assigns to VB Assets LLC
         : Application filed by VB Assets LLC
    2021 : Patent Issued
    2024 : VB Assets files suit vs SoundHound AI
    2025 : VB Assets grants security to Contingency Capital
         : IPR2025-01167 filed vs Amazon
    2026 : VB Assets files suit vs Google

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from Voicebox Technologies Corporation, an operating company, to VB Assets LLC (executed 2019-08-28, recorded 2019-09-06, Reel 050307/0441) is a strong signal. VB Assets LLC was formed by former Voicebox employees and investors specifically to manage and license patents after Voicebox's acquisition, and its stated business is "licensing, enforcing, and expanding its patent portfolio," indicating no product manufacturing or sales.
Known asserter in the chain — Present. VB Assets LLC is actively engaged in patent infringement litigation against major technology companies like Amazon, Google, and SoundHound AI. This identifies VB Assets LLC as a known patent asserter.
Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Michael R. Kennewick, as the correspondent (MICHAEL R KENNEWICK, MICHAEL KENNEWICK, 13700 NE 20TH ST #M-60, BELLEVUE, WA 98005), handled both assignments executed on 2019-08-28 (Reel 050307/0438 and 050307/0441), indicating consistent legal representation for the transfers into the asset-holding entity.
Cascading transfers — Present. Two consecutive assignments for the patent were executed on the same day (2019-08-28) and recorded on the same day (2019-09-06) (Reel 050307/0438 and 050307/0441), moving the patent from the inventor through Voicebox Technologies Corporation to VB Assets LLC. This rapid transfer occurred on the filing date of this continuation application.
Pre-litigation transfer — Present. While this specific patent (US11087385) was filed on August 28, 2019, the formation of VB Assets LLC and the transfer of the Voicebox patent portfolio to it were directly tied to initiating patent litigation against Amazon, with the first lawsuit being filed on July 29, 2019, shortly before this patent's filing. The transfers for this patent to VB Assets LLC were concurrent with or just prior to active assertion of related patents by VB Assets LLC.
Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Voicebox Technologies was acquired by Nuance Communications, not subject to bankruptcy proceedings.
Privateering — Present. Voicebox Technologies was acquired by Nuance Communications in 2018. Subsequently, VB Assets LLC was created by former employees and investors of Voicebox to assert patents that remained with them, against companies like Amazon and Google. This pattern suggests an operating company's (or its former owners') patents are being asserted by a separate entity against competitors.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals. The patent was transferred from an acquired operating company (Voicebox Technologies Corporation) to a shell entity (VB Assets LLC, Reel 050307/0441) whose primary business is patent licensing and enforcement. VB Assets LLC is a known and active patent asserter, currently litigating against prominent technology companies. The cascading transfers (Reel 050307/0438 and 050307/0441) on the application filing date, handled by a repeat correspondent, and the pre-litigation timing surrounding the formation of VB Assets LLC and its initial lawsuits collectively indicate a deliberate strategy for patent assertion.

USPTO Assignment Center search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/query?query=11087385

Generated 6/1/2026, 12:47:46 AM