Assignment history

Inventors

• Thien Nguyen (Employer at time of filing not determinable from provided text)
• Tam Thanh Pham (Employer at time of filing not determinable from provided text)

No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing, are determinable from the provided text.

Original assignee

Solmetex LLC is named as the original assignee on the issued patent. The patent describes an "intraoral device" and "dental mouthpiece" for assisting dental staff with hands-free suction and isolation. Solmetex LLC appears to be an operating company in the dental industry, as it manufactures and sells dental products. The company is currently operating, as indicated by its various reassignments and security interests (e.g., as assignor in 2025-03-18 securitization).

Assignment timeline

• 2014-01-06 to 2014-01-07 (executed) / recorded 2014-03-27 — Reel 032545/0891

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Thien Nguyen, Tam Thanh Pham (Inventors)
  • Assignee: INCEPT, INC., CALIFORNIA
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to Incept, Inc. on the application filing date.

• 2017-01-27 (executed) / recorded 2017-06-20 — Reel 042916/0954

  • Conveyance: Assignment (Conversion)
  • Assignor: INCEPT INCORPORATED
  • Assignee: DRYSHIELD, LLC, CALIFORNIA
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
  • Context: Conversion or acquisition of Incept Incorporated by Dryshield, LLC.

• 2022-06-03 (executed) / recorded 2022-06-03 — Reel 060099/0397

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Assignee: MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST, MARYLAND
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
  • Context: Securitization of intellectual property, likely as collateral for a loan.

• 2022-05-09 (executed) / recorded 2022-06-06 — Reel 060107/0030

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Assignee: SOLMETEX, LLC, MASSACHUSETTS
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
  • Context: Assignment of interest from Dryshield, LLC to Solmetex, LLC.

• 2022-06-03 (executed) / recorded 2022-11-02 — Reel 061637/0932

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Assignee: MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST, MARYLAND
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
  • Context: Re-recording or amendment of a security interest, or a new security interest with the same effective date as the prior one.

• 2025-03-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-03-18 — Reel 070544/0954

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: SOLMETEX, LLC; STERISIL, INC.; DRYSHIELD, LLC; AND OTHERS
  • Assignee: CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT, NEW YORK
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
  • Context: Further securitization involving multiple entities, including Solmetex and Dryshield, with Churchill Agency Services LLC acting as an administrative agent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11744686
    2014 : Inventors assign to Incept Inc
    2017 : Incept converts to Dryshield LLC
    2022 : Dryshield grants security interest
         : Dryshield assigns to Solmetex
         : Dryshield grants security interest
    2024 : US litigation filed
    2025 : Multiple parties grant security interest
         : PTAB IPR filed by Unified Patents

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. All identified assignees (Incept Inc., Dryshield LLC, Solmetex LLC) appear to be operating companies in the dental or medical device sector. Midcap Financial Trust and Churchill Agency Services LLC are financial institutions, involved in securitization, not typically shell licensing entities for assertion.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Incept Inc., Dryshield LLC, Solmetex LLC, Midcap Financial Trust, Churchill Agency Services LLC) are on the provided list of known NPEs.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. Correspondent names and firms are not determinable from the provided Google Patents legal events.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. Transfers are spaced out (2014, 2017, 2022, 2025), not indicating rapid transfers between chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The earliest recorded litigation for the patent family is a US case filed in Michigan Western District Court (case 1:24-cv-00954), which occurred in 2024. The most recent assignment (transfer of ownership) was on 2022-06-06 to Solmetex LLC (Reel 060107/0030), which is more than six months prior to any known litigation. The 2022 and 2025 entries are security interests, not ownership transfers for assertion purposes.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication that any assignor filed for Chapter 7 or 11 bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information from SEC filings or other external sources in the provided text to suggest privateering.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator. While Unified Patents filed an IPR, they are the petitioner against the patent, not an assignee acquiring it for defensive purposes.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. The patent is currently held by Solmetex, LLC, an operating company that appears to manufacture and sell dental products related to the patent's claims. While there is ongoing litigation (US case in Michigan Western District Court filed in 2024 and an IPR filed by Unified Patents in 2025), these appear to be typical assertion actions by an operating company against competitors or in response to challenges, rather than a pattern of NPE behavior. There are no clear signals of shell-entity transfers, known NPEs in the chain, or cascading transfers designed for assertion.

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