Patent 11240183

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 (1)

Asserters network →

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

2021-08-26 · reel 065532/0698 · ASSIGNMENT
DANDISON, JOHN PATRICK FRANCIS; JOHNSON, JAMES ALLEN; SCHOTTLAND, PAUL JOSEPH LYMAN Disintermediation Services, Inc.
Correspondent: RAGSDALE, CHARLES W · Law Office of Charles W Ragsdale Jr
initial inventor assignment

Assignment history

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Inventors

The named inventors for U.S. Patent 11,240,183 are:

John Patrick Francis Dandison
James Allen Johnson
Paul Joseph Lyman Schottland

At the time of filing, all inventors were associated with Disintermedation Services Inc., the original assignee. There are no unusual patterns indicating a departure from the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named as the original assignee on the issued patent is Disintermedation Services Inc.

Disintermedation Services Inc. is primarily involved in patent licensing and enforcement. It is widely recognized as a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) or patent assertion entity (PAE). There is no publicly available evidence suggesting that Disintermedation Services Inc. ships or manufactures a product embodying the claims of U.S. Patent 11,240,183. Its current status appears to be active, primarily engaging in patent litigation as indicated by the extensive litigation history involving this patent.

Assignment timeline

The following assignment record for U.S. Patent 11,240,183 was found on the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database:

2021-08-26 (executed) / recorded 2021-08-26 — Reel 065532/0698
- Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
- Assignor: DANDISON, JOHN PATRICK FRANCIS; JOHNSON, JAMES ALLEN; SCHOTTLAND, PAUL JOSEPH LYMAN
- Assignee: DISINTERMEDIATION SERVICES, INC.
- Correspondent: RAGSDALE, CHARLES W, LAW OFFICE OF CHARLES W RAGSDALE JR PC, P O BOX 132149, THE WOODLANDS, TX 77393-2149. This correspondent frequently appears on assignments for patent assertion entities, particularly in Texas.
- Context: Assignment of all rights, title, and interest in the invention from the individual inventors to the corporate entity, Disintermedation Services, Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11240183
    2020 : Filed
    2021 : Inventors assign to Disintermediation Services Inc
    2022 : Patent issued
         : First infringement suits filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer: Not present. The only recorded assignment for this patent is from the inventors to the initial corporate assignee. There is no transfer from an operating company to a licensing-only shell LLC documented in the assignment records for this specific patent.
Known asserter in the chain: Present. The current assignee, Disintermedation Services, Inc., is a known patent assertion entity (NPE).
- Evidence: Assignee listed as DISINTERMEDIATION SERVICES, INC. in Reel 065532/0698, recorded 2021-08-26.
Repeat correspondent across the chain: Present. The correspondent, Charles W. Ragsdale of Law Office of Charles W Ragsdale Jr PC, is known to represent numerous patent assertion entities, indicating a pattern of activity with NPEs beyond this single patent.
- Evidence: Correspondent is RAGSDALE, CHARLES W, LAW OFFICE OF CHARLES W RAGSDALE JR PC, on Reel 065532/0698, recorded 2021-08-26.
Cascading transfers: Not present. Only one assignment is recorded in the chain for this patent.
Pre-litigation transfer: Not present. The assignment from inventors to Disintermedation Services, Inc. was executed and recorded on August 26, 2021 (Reel 065532/0698). The earliest recorded litigation for this patent is from June 2022, which is more than six months after the assignment date.
Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. There is no indication from the assignment record or other provided information that the patent was acquired through a bankruptcy sale.
Privateering: Unclear. While Disintermedation Services Inc. is an NPE, the assignment records for this patent do not explicitly reveal a transfer from an operating company to assert against competitors. This would require deeper external financial or legal filings not provided.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The patent is held by Disintermedation Services, Inc., which is an NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The patent is currently assigned to Disintermedation Services, Inc., a known patent assertion entity (NPE), as evidenced by the assignment recorded on 2021-08-26 (Reel 065532/0698). Furthermore, the correspondent on this assignment, Charles W. Ragsdale, is a frequent representative of NPEs, reinforcing the assertion-driven nature of the patent ownership. The extensive litigation history against various companies further supports this verdict.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US11240183: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

[US11240183B2](/patent/US11240183B2) - Two-way real time communication system that allows asymmetric participation in conversations across multiple electronic platforms - Google Patents. "Current Assignee: Disintermedation Services Inc" and "[Unified Patents](/litigations/by-plaintiff/Unified%20Patents) lists them as an active NPE" Unified Patents. https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/litigation/Texas%20Eastern%20District%20Court/case/2%3A25-cv-00772 Charles W Ragsdale Jr PC - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=Charles+W+Ragsdale+Jr+PC+NPE

Generated 5/30/2026, 12:45:48 AM