Assignment history

Inventors

The inventors listed on U.S. Patent 11,470,138 B2 are:

• David F. Brueck
• Mark B. Hurst
• R. Drew Major

At the time of the original invention (priority date of April 30, 2004), the inventors were associated with a company called Move Networks, Inc. This is confirmed by their assignment of the parent patent (U.S. Patent 7,818,444) to Move Networks. Dish Technologies LLC later acquired the patent family. There are no unusual patterns, such as mass inventor departures, noted in the record.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Dish Technologies LLC.

Dish Technologies LLC is a subsidiary of Dish Network Corporation, a major American television provider and owner of the satellite-based Dish broadcast service and the over-the-top streaming service Sling TV. Dish is a large, publicly traded operating company that has historically shipped and currently ships products and services (like the Dish Hopper DVR and the Sling TV platform) that embody technologies related to media streaming. The company is actively operating.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database reveals two assignment records for this patent.

• 2020-05-18 (executed) / recorded 2020-05-18 — Reel 055877/0616

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: David F. Brueck; Mark B. Hurst; R. Drew Major
  • Assignee: DISH TECHNOLOGIES L.L.C., a Nevada limited liability company
  • Correspondent: Mark B. Hurst, DISH NETWORK LLC, 9601 S Meridian Blvd, Englewood, CO, 80112
  • Context: This is the foundational assignment from the inventors to the operating company, Dish Technologies, executed on the same day the patent application was filed.

• 2021-04-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-04-05 — Reel 058864/0001

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Mark B. Hurst; R. Drew Major
  • Assignee: DISH TECHNOLOGIES L.L.C., a Nevada limited liability company
  • Correspondent: Brandon K. Oberhammer, DISH NETWORK L.L.C., 9601 South Meridian Blvd., Englewood, CO, 80112
  • Context: A confirmatory assignment from two of the inventors to the same assignee, likely executed to clean up the chain of title and ensure all rights were properly conveyed.

There are no other recorded assignments. The patent has remained with the original assignee, Dish Technologies LLC, since it was filed.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11470138B2
    2004 : Priority Date
    2020 : Application Filed
         : Assigned by Inventors to Dish Technologies
    2021 : Confirmatory Assignment to Dish
    2022 : Patent Issued to Dish Technologies
    2023 : First infringement suits filed by Dish

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent was assigned directly from the inventors to Dish Technologies LLC, a known operating company, and has not been transferred since. The assignee address is a corporate headquarters, not a registered agent.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. The sole assignee, Dish Technologies LLC, is an operating company and is not on public lists of NPEs. While Dish is an active plaintiff, it asserts its patents as an operating company protecting its own technology and products.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. Both correspondents of record are in-house counsel for Dish Network L.L.C., the parent company. This is standard practice for an operating company managing its own patent portfolio and does not indicate NPE activity.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There have been no subsequent transfers after the initial assignments from the inventors.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The patent has remained with the original assignee, which is the same entity that is filing infringement lawsuits. The assignments on record occurred years before the first litigation was filed in 2023.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The patent was not acquired through bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Not present. Dish Technologies LLC is asserting the patent directly, not through a third-party NPE.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is held by an operating company and is being actively asserted.

Verdict

• Operating-company assertion

Justification: The assignment record is simple and clear: the patent was assigned by the inventors directly to Dish Technologies LLC, a well-known operating company, at the time of filing. There have been no subsequent transfers to any third party, shell company, or known NPE. The litigation involving this patent is being brought by Dish itself, which offers products like Sling TV that practice the claimed adaptive streaming technology. This is a straightforward case of an operating company asserting its own patent portfolio.

Verification Link: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US 11470138B2