Assignment history

Inventors

• Thomas A. Howell: Employer at time of filing presumed to be Ingeniospec LLC.
• David Chao: Employer at time of filing presumed to be Ingeniospec LLC.
• C. Douglass Thomas: Employer at time of filing presumed to be Ingeniospec LLC.
• Peter P. Tong: Employer at time of filing presumed to be Ingeniospec LLC.

All inventors are associated with the original assignee, Ingeniospec LLC, at the time of filing. There is no information to suggest any unusual patterns of departure.

Original Assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Ingeniospec LLC.

Ingeniospec LLC describes itself as creating, investing in, acquiring, and licensing innovative technologies and patents in the high-growth electronic eyewear market. They also state that they license their patent portfolios to companies to enhance their intellectual property position. While Ingeniospec LLC does list products like "SnapSpec™ Electronic Eyewear" and "LIGHT™" eyewear on its website, their primary line of business, as evidenced by their public statements and recent litigation activity, appears to be patent licensing and assertion. Ingeniospec has been involved in litigation and has gained licensees for its smart wearable patent portfolio following ITC investigations against companies like HTC and Meta.

Its current status is operating, actively engaging in patent assertion and licensing.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for patent number 11644693 (application number 17/873,104) indicates that there are no recorded assignments for this specific patent number. The patent lists Ingeniospec LLC as both the Original Assignee and Current Assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11644693
    2005 : Priority from US 11/183,269
    2022 : Application filed by Ingeniospec LLC
    2023 : Patent US 11644693 issued to Ingeniospec LLC
    2025 : First infringement suit filed (1:25-cv-00867)
    2025 : Anticipated expiration

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Unclear. While Ingeniospec LLC's business model leans heavily towards licensing and patent assertion, and they are described as an "unfunded company", there are no direct transfers to a shell entity recorded for this specific patent. However, their primary business of licensing and assertion against large companies aligns with the behavior of a licensing-only entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Ingeniospec LLC is a known plaintiff in patent litigation, having filed suits against major technology companies like Apple, HTC, and Meta concerning electronic eyewear products [cite: 2, litigation summary]. This pattern of activity identifies them as a patent assertion entity (NPE).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There are no recorded assignments for this specific patent, so no correspondent chain to evaluate.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. No recorded assignments for this patent.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. Ingeniospec LLC is the original assignee of record for this patent and is the plaintiff in the litigation.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.
7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no explicit evidence of an operating company transferring the patent to Ingeniospec LLC to assert on their behalf. Ingeniospec appears to be asserting its own patent portfolio.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict is high confidence NPE based on Ingeniospec LLC's business model, which focuses on creating, investing in, acquiring, and licensing patents, and their active engagement in a "broader litigation campaign" against major technology companies like Apple, HTC, and Meta [cite: 2, 6, 15, litigation summary]. Their public statements emphasize licensing their patent portfolio, indicating that patent assertion is a core part of their strategy, rather than primarily manufacturing and selling products embodying the claims.

USPTO Patent Assignment Search