Assignment history

Inventors

• Christopher T. Martin: Employed by Sharkninja Operating LLC at the time of filing.
• Thomas Guerin: Employed by Sharkninja Operating LLC at the time of filing.
• Roger Neil Jackson: Employed by Sharkninja Operating LLC at the time of filing.
• Joshua D. Anthony: Employed by Sharkninja Operating LLC at the time of filing.
• Kerry Schwarz: Employed by Sharkninja Operating LLC at the time of filing.
• Michaela Dubeau: Employed by Sharkninja Operating LLC at the time of filing.

It is common practice for inventors to assign their rights to their employer at or near the time of filing, as seen with the assignment to Sharkninja Operating LLC in July 2023. No unusual patterns, such as inventors departing the original assignee shortly after filing, are evident.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Sharkninja Operating LLC. Sharkninja Operating LLC is an operating company primarily in the business of manufacturing and selling consumer home appliances, including blenders, coffee makers, and cooking systems like air fryers. They ship products that embody the claims of US 11,672,377, particularly dual-zone air fryers which feature multiple cooking compartments with independent heating and fan mechanisms. The company is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2023-07-19 (executed) / recorded 2023-07-24 — Reel 006421/0088

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: SCHWARZ, Kerry; ANTHONY, JOSHUA D.; DUBEAU, MICHAELA; GUERIN, THOMAS; JACKSON, ROGER NEIL; MARTIN, CHRISTOPHER T.
  • Assignee: SHARKNINJA OPERATING LLC
  • Correspondent: JOHN A. SOKOL, SHARKNINJA OPERATING LLC, 89 A Street, Needham, MA 02494.
  • Context: Original assignment from individual inventors to the corporate entity.

• 2023-07-20 (executed) / recorded 2023-07-24 — Reel 006422/0111

  • Conveyance: NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS
  • Assignor: SHARKNINJA OPERATING LLC
  • Assignee: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
  • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, PRD-New York, Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036.
  • Context: Securitization (granting a security interest in the patent portfolio as collateral for financing).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11672377
    2022 : Filed by Sharkninja
    2023 : Issued
         : Inventors assign to Sharkninja
         : Sharkninja grants security interest

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Not present. The patent was assigned directly to Sharkninja Operating LLC, a recognized operating company. The subsequent grant of a security interest to Bank of America, N.A., is a financial transaction typical of operating companies, not a transfer to a shell entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain: Not present. Neither Sharkninja Operating LLC nor Bank of America, N.A. are known patent assertion entities (NPEs).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. The two recorded assignments list different correspondents: JOHN A. SOKOL for Sharkninja Operating LLC and Ropes & Gray LLP. There is no recurrence of the same correspondent within this specific chain.
4. Cascading transfers: Not present. There are only two distinct assignments (inventors to operating company, and a security interest to a bank), executed on consecutive days but recorded together. This does not constitute multiple consecutive transfers through chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer: Not present. The assignments occurred in July 2023. The earliest indicated district court litigation (Case 1:24-cv-08984) was filed in 2024, more than six months after the assignments.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. There is no indication that Sharkninja Operating LLC has filed for bankruptcy or that the patent was sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering: Not present. Sharkninja Operating LLC is an active operating company, and there is no evidence suggesting it transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The patent remains with Sharkninja Operating LLC (subject to the security interest), and has not been transferred to a defensive aggregator like RPX or AST.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent was assigned from the individual inventors to Sharkninja Operating LLC (Reel 006421/0088), a well-known consumer appliance manufacturer that produces products consistent with the patent's claims. A subsequent security interest was granted to Bank of America, N.A. (Reel 006422/0111), which is a standard financing practice for operating companies and not indicative of NPE activity. Furthermore, there are no transfers to shell entities or known patent asserters in the chain, strongly indicating an operating-company assertion strategy.

USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US11672377