Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor for US patent 11627242 is Frederick Perkins. The patent indicates that the application was filed by an "Individual" and lists the "Original Assignee" as "Individual," which suggests Frederick Perkins filed the patent in his personal capacity rather than as an employee of a specific employer at the time of filing on June 10, 2015.

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the issued patent was "Individual" (Frederick Perkins). It is not determinable from the provided information whether Frederick Perkins, as an individual, shipped a product embodying the claims or what his primary line of business was at the time. His current status as an individual inventor is also not determinable.

Assignment timeline

• 2023-07-31 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-29 — Reel 069270/0617
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: Perkins, Frederick
  • Assignee: WOODSTREAM CORPORATION, PENNSYLVANIA
  • Correspondent: [Correspondent information not available from provided patent text or search results. This detail would typically be retrieved from the USPTO Assignment Center document.]
  • Context: Transfer of ownership from the individual inventor to an operating company.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11627242
    2015 : Filed by Frederick Perkins (Individual)
    2023 : Issued
    2024 : Assigned to Woodstream Corp

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfer was from an individual inventor (Frederick Perkins) to WOODSTREAM CORPORATION, which is a known operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. WOODSTREAM CORPORATION is an operating company specializing in pest control, wildlife care, and bird feeding products, including bird feeders. There is no indication of any known NPEs in the ownership chain.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information for the assignment from Frederick Perkins to WOODSTREAM CORPORATION is not available in the provided patent text or search results. Therefore, it's not possible to determine if a correspondent recurs or is associated with known NPE assertion lists.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one assignment is recorded, from the individual inventor to an operating company.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to Woodstream Corporation was recorded on October 29, 2024. The district court litigation (1:24-cv-01236) was filed in 2024, but a specific filing date within 6 months of the assignment is not provided for comparison. However, Woodstream is an operating company, making a pre-litigation transfer to enable assertion by a non-practicing entity less likely. The PTAB case (IPR2026-00141) was filed in 2026, well after the assignment.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication that Frederick Perkins or WOODSTREAM CORPORATION has undergone a bankruptcy fire-sale related to this patent.
7. Privateering — Not present. The patent was assigned to an operating company, not an NPE acting on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with WOODSTREAM CORPORATION, an operating company, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. The patent was initially filed by an individual inventor, Frederick Perkins, and subsequently assigned to WOODSTREAM CORPORATION on July 31, 2023 (effective date, recorded October 29, 2024, Reel 069270/0617). WOODSTREAM CORPORATION is a well-established operating company that manufactures and markets bird feeders, which directly embody the claims of US patent 11627242. The litigation identified is likely an assertion by an operating company against competitors.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/