Patent 11188998

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.

Active provider: Google · gemini-2.5-flash

Ownership chain (5)

Asserters network →

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

  1. 2019-08-16 · Application filed

    Michael F. MaloneMYPORT IP, INC.

    Original filing of the patent application.

  2. 2019-08-19 · Reassignment

    Frederick J. Murphy, Michael F. MaloneMYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

    Transfer of interest from inventors to MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc.

  3. 2020-07-14 · Reassignment

    MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.MYPORT IP, INC.

    Transfer of interest from MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc. back to MYPORT IP, INC.

  4. 2024-10-23 · Security Agreement

    MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC

    securitization

  5. 2024-10-25 · Reassignment

    MYPORT IP, INC.MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

    Transfer of interest from MYPORT IP, INC. back to MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

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

  • Michael F. Malone (Employer not specified in the patent at the time of filing)

No unusual patterns, such as inventors departing the original assignee, are determinable from the provided patent text.

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the issued patent US11188998B2 is Myport IP Inc.

Based on the provided patent text, it is unclear whether Myport IP Inc. shipped a product embodying the claims. Their primary line of business, as inferred from the patent, appears to be related to information transmission systems with secure embedding, encryption, storage, and retrieval of digital media.

Their current status is unclear from the provided document. The legal status on Google Patents is "Expired - Fee Related," and there have been several reassignments, but the current operating status of Myport IP Inc. itself is not specified.

Assignment timeline

The following is the assignment timeline for US Patent 11188998, based on the provided Google Patents legal events. It's important to note that without direct access to the USPTO Assignment Center, some details such as reel/frame numbers, exact conveyance types (beyond "reassignment"), and correspondent information cannot be fully reconstructed.

  • 2019-08-16 (filed) / recorded (N/A) - Reel (N/A)
    • Conveyance: Application filed
    • Assignor: (Inventor: Michael F. Malone)
    • Assignee: Myport IP Inc
    • Context: Original filing of the patent application.
  • 2019-08-19 (executed) / recorded (N/A) - Reel (N/A)
    • Conveyance: Reassignment
    • Assignor: Frederick J. Murphy, Michael F. Malone
    • Assignee: MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc.
    • Context: Transfer of interest from inventors to MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc.
  • 2020-07-14 (executed) / recorded (N/A) - Reel (N/A)
    • Conveyance: Reassignment
    • Assignor: MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc.
    • Assignee: MYPORT IP, INC.
    • Context: Transfer of interest from MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc. back to MYPORT IP, INC.
  • 2021-11-30 (granted) / recorded (N/A) - Reel (N/A)
    • Conveyance: Application granted
    • Assignor: (N/A)
    • Assignee: Myport IP Inc (original assignee on granted patent)
    • Context: Patent issuance to Myport IP Inc.
  • 2024-10-23 (executed) / recorded (N/A) - Reel (N/A)
    • Conveyance: Patent Security Agreement
    • Assignor: MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    • Assignee: IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC
    • Context: Security agreement granted by MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. to IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC. This indicates that IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC has a financial interest in the patent. IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC is associated with litigation funding.
  • 2024-10-25 (executed) / recorded (N/A) - Reel (N/A)
    • Conveyance: Reassignment
    • Assignor: MYPORT IP, INC.
    • Assignee: MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    • Context: Transfer of interest from MYPORT IP, INC. back to MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11188998
    2019 : Filed by Myport IP Inc
         : Reassigned to MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc
    2020 : Reassigned to MYPORT IP INC
    2021 : Patent granted
    2024 : Security agreement to IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC
         : Reassigned to MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Unclear. While Myport IP Inc. and MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc. have names that could be associated with intellectual property holding, there is no definitive information within the provided text or search results to confirm they are solely licensing-only LLCs with no products in commerce. The search results show a "MyPort.al" which is an "OS for your life" dashboard, suggesting a potential product or service, but it's unclear if this is directly tied to the patent's claims or the entities "Myport IP Inc" or "MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc". Another entity, myIPgear.com, sells networking equipment and uses "myIPgear.com" which is phonetically similar but appears to be distinct. Schindler, an elevator company, offers "Schindler myPORT" smartphone app features. No-IP offers "Embed Dynamic DNS directly into your hardware or platform". These suggest the "Myport" name is used by several companies, making a clear determination of Myport IP Inc. or MYPORT TECHNOLOGIES Inc. being shell entities difficult without more specific product information.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC appears in the assignment chain via a Patent Security Agreement dated 2024-10-23. This entity is described as a litigation funder investing in critical areas of technology, and is associated with funding lawsuits of non-practicing entities (NPEs).
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Without access to the USPTO Assignment Center to view correspondent names and firms for each transaction, it is not possible to determine if the same correspondent recurs.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are two reassignments in 2019 and two transactions in 2024, the gaps between them (August 2019 to July 2020, and November 2021 to October 2024) are longer than 24 months, or involve different types of transactions (reassignment then security agreement then reassignment in the 2024 sequence).
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While there is ongoing litigation related to the patent (PTAB case IPR2025-01467 and CAFC case 26-1372), the specific filing dates of these infringement suits are not provided. Therefore, it's not possible to determine if any assignment occurred within 6 months prior to the first infringement suit.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the provided information that any of the assignors filed for Chapter 7 or 11 bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no information to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on their behalf against competitors.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not end at any known defensive aggregators such as RPX, Allied Security Trust (AST), LOT Network, Unified Patents, or Open Invention Network.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The presence of IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC in the assignment chain via a Patent Security Agreement dated 2024-10-23 is a strong indicator. IP LITFIN US 2024 LLC is identified as a litigation funder that backs lawsuits by non-practicing entities. This involvement points towards an assertion strategy, and given the "Expired - Fee Related" status and the lack of clear product association for the Myport entities, it's highly probable the patent is being used for assertion.

For verification, you can search the USPTO Assignment Center at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ by patent number US11188998.

Generated 5/23/2026, 6:49:13 PM