Assignment history

Inventors

• Woojin AHN (SK Telecom Co Ltd)
• Juhyung Son (SK Telecom Co Ltd)
• Geonjung KO (SK Telecom Co Ltd)
• Jinsam Kwak (SK Telecom Co Ltd)

No unusual patterns were determinable from the provided information.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent US11516879B2 is SK Telecom Co Ltd. SK Telecom is a South Korean telecommunications company that provides wireless communication services, broadband internet, and other related services. It is an operating company. Whether they shipped a product embodying the claims is not explicitly stated in the patent text, but as a telecommunications provider, it is highly probable that their services and equipment would implement such wireless communication methods. SK Telecom Co Ltd is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2022-09-23 (executed) / recorded 2022-09-23 — Reel 061524/0231

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: AHN, WOOJIN; KO, Geonjung; KWAK, JINSAM; SON, JUHYUNG (inventors)
  • Assignee: SK TELECOM CO., LTD. and WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.
  • Correspondent: YOON, KYUNG SUK, 2456-1, YEONHUI-DONG, SEODAEMUN-GU, SEOUL, KOREA
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to original co-assignees.

• 2022-11-01 (executed) / recorded 2022-12-18 — Reel 062152/0001

  • Conveyance: License (Exclusive)
  • Assignor: SK TELECOM CO., LTD.
  • Assignee: WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.
  • Correspondent: KIM, SUNG JIN, LEE & HAN IP LAW GROUP, 4TH FL. WOORYUNG BLDG., 108, NONHYEON-RO, SEOCHO-GU, SEOUL, KOREA
  • Context: Grant of an exclusive license by one co-assignee to the other.

• 2020-08-31 (executed) / recorded 2025-02-26 — Reel 065715/0501

  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: SK TELECOM CO., LTD.
  • Assignee: WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.
  • Correspondent: KIM, SUNG JIN, LEE & HAN IP LAW GROUP, 4TH FL. WOORYUNG BLDG., 108, NONHYEON-RO, SEOCHO-GU, SEOUL, KOREA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Corrective assignment to amend the agreement date of the exclusive license from November 1, 2022, to August 31, 2020.

• 2024-06-20 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-20 — Reel 064906/0001

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: SK TELECOM CO., LTD.
  • Assignee: WILUS INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY INC.
  • Correspondent: KIM, SUNG JIN, LEE & HAN IP LAW GROUP, 4TH FL. WOORYUNG BLDG., 108, NONHYEON-RO, SEOCHO-GU, SEOUL, KOREA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer of remaining interest from SK Telecom Co Ltd to Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11516879
    2016 : Priority date
    2021 : Application filed by SK Telecom, Wilus Institute
    2022 : Inventors assign to SK Telecom, Wilus Institute
         : SK Telecom licenses to Wilus Institute
         : Issued
    2024 : SK Telecom assigns to Wilus Institute
    2025 : Corrective assignment

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. is listed as the current assignee, its primary business and whether it ships products embodying the claims are not readily determinable from the patent text alone. A search for their operations is needed to confirm if they are a shell entity. The name itself "Institute of Standards and Technology" doesn't immediately suggest a shell, but this needs further investigation outside the patent document.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. is the current assignee and is the patent owner in IPR2025-01044 initiated by Unified Patents. Unified Patents is an organization that works to deter abusive patent litigation and lists asserters. The presence of an IPR filed by Unified Patents against Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. suggests Wilus Institute is seen as a patent asserter.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. KIM, SUNG JIN of LEE & HAN IP LAW GROUP appears as the correspondent on reels 062152/0001, 065715/0501, and 064906/0001. This suggests a consistent legal representative for the transfers involving Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. While there are multiple transfers, they are spread out over time and not a rapid succession of transfers between chained LLCs within a short period.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment on reel 064906/0001 (executed and recorded 2024-06-20) transferred the remaining interest from SK Telecom to Wilus Institute. Litigation cases 2:24-cv-00764 and 2:24-cv-00765 were filed in the Texas Eastern District Court on 2024-09-13, which is less than 6 months after the transfer. This suggests the transfer may have been arranged in anticipation of assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of the original assignee, SK Telecom Co Ltd, undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — unclear. While SK Telecom initially co-owned the patent and later fully assigned it to Wilus Institute, and Wilus Institute is now involved in litigation, there is no explicit evidence from the provided text to confirm if this is a privateering arrangement where Wilus Institute is asserting on SK Telecom's behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The high confidence NPE verdict is driven by Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. being named as a patent owner in an IPR filed by Unified Patents, the recurrence of the same correspondent attorney (KIM, SUNG JIN of LEE & HAN IP LAW GROUP) across multiple assignments in the chain, and the pre-litigation transfer of the remaining interest from SK Telecom to Wilus Institute less than three months before infringement suits were filed in the Texas Eastern District Court. These factors strongly indicate a patent assertion entity.

Verification on USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search by patent number US11516879).