Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor for U.S. Patent 11,100,163 is James L. Geer. The patent document does not explicitly state his employer at the time of filing. However, the initial assignment of his interest was to Mimzi LLC, executed on the same day the application was filed.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Mimzi LLC. Based on web search results, Mimzi LLC is described as a "plaintiff-side IP assertion entity with no publicly disclosed products or services, consistent with a non-practicing entity (NPE) or patent licensing business model." Mimzi LLC is currently active and engaged in patent assertion litigation.

Assignment timeline

• 2018-11-29 (executed) / recorded 2023-05-23 — Reel 065586/0329
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: GEER, JAMES L.
  • Assignee: MIMZI LLC
  • Correspondent: BROWNING, DAVID S., BROWNING LAW FIRM PLLC, 3050 POST OAK BLVD, SUITE 500, HOUSTON, TX 77056.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's rights to the entity that filed the patent application.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11100163
    2008 : Priority date
    2018 : Filed by Mimzi LLC
         : Inventor assigned to Mimzi LLC
    2021 : Issued
    2023 : Inventor assignment recorded
    2023 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. Mimzi LLC is consistently identified in public records and analysis as a "plaintiff-side IP assertion entity with no publicly disclosed products or services, consistent with a non-practicing entity (NPE) or patent licensing business model." This indicates it functions as a licensing-only entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Mimzi LLC is actively asserting its patent portfolio, including US 11,100,163, against various companies in the automotive and consumer electronics sectors, such as Honda, Nissan, and Samsung. RPX also identifies Mimzi, LLC as a plaintiff in litigation.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Only one assignment record (Reel 065586/0329) is available for this specific patent, preventing a determination of recurrence for the correspondent, BROWNING, DAVID S., BROWNING LAW FIRM PLLC.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment from the inventor to Mimzi LLC for this patent.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment from the inventor to Mimzi LLC was executed on the filing date (2018-11-29). While the recording date (2023-05-23, Reel 065586/0329) is close to the filing date of the Samsung lawsuit (May 2023), the patent was already owned by Mimzi LLC since its application filing.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. No evidence suggests the inventor or Mimzi LLC underwent bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Mimzi LLC is an NPE, there is no explicit information indicating it is asserting patents on behalf of an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is owned by an active assertion entity.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on Mimzi LLC being explicitly identified as a non-practicing entity (NPE) with no known products or services, whose primary business model is patent assertion, as evidenced by its active litigation history. The single recorded assignment (Reel 065586/0329) merely formalizes the transfer from the inventor to this known NPE.

Verification: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US11100163