Patent 11677798B2
Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
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Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
Inventors
- David F. Brueck
- Mark B. Hurst
- R. Drew Major
Based on the original assignment, all inventors were employees of DISH Technologies L.L.C. or a related entity at the time of the invention (priority date April 30, 2004). There are no indications of any unusual departure patterns following the filing.
Original Assignee
The original assignee of record is DISH Technologies L.L.C.
DISH Technologies L.L.C. is the research and development arm of DISH Network, a major American provider of satellite television, streaming services (Sling TV), and mobile wireless services. The company actively develops and ships products and services that embody the claims of this patent family, specifically in the area of adaptive bitrate (ABR) video streaming used in its Sling TV and DISH Anywhere applications. DISH Network is an active operating company.
Assignment Timeline
A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for U.S. Patent No. 11,677,798 B2 reveals no recorded assignments for this patent.
The patent has remained with the original assignee, DISH Technologies L.L.C., since it was granted.
Timeline Diagram
As there have been no recorded assignments, a timeline diagram is not applicable. The ownership has not changed since the patent was filed by the original inventors and assigned to their employer.
NPE / Troll-Pattern Signals
- Shell-entity transfer: Not present. There have been no transfers recorded. The patent remains with the original operating company.
- Known asserter in the chain: Not present. No NPEs appear in the ownership chain because there have been no transfers. The owner is the original R&D entity.
- Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. This signal is not applicable as there are no recorded assignments.
- Cascading transfers: Not present. There have been no assignments.
- Pre-litigation transfer: Not present. The numerous infringement suits listed in the litigation summary were all filed by the original assignee, DISH, with no preceding assignment to set up litigation.
- Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. The original assignee, DISH, is a solvent, operating company.
- Privateering: Not present. DISH is asserting the patent directly, not through a third-party NPE.
- Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The patent has not been transferred to a defensive aggregator.
Verdict
Operating-company assertion
This verdict is based on the fact that no assignments have been recorded for this patent since its issuance. The current owner, DISH Technologies L.L.C., is the original assignee and the research and development subsidiary of DISH Network, a major operating company that provides video streaming services. The extensive litigation history for this patent shows DISH directly asserting its own intellectual property against competitors in the streaming media market.
The ownership chain can be verified at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search Center.
Generated 5/10/2026, 6:48:58 PM