Patent 11826217

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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Ownership chain (6)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2020-06-23 · Assignment

    Thien Nguyen, Tam Thanh Pham, Ethan Nguyen, Lauren NguyenDRYSHIELD, LLC

    initial assignment

  2. 2022-06-03 · Security Agreement

    DRYSHIELD, LLCMIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST

    securitization

  3. 2022-06-06 · Assignment

    DRYSHIELD, LLCSOLMETEX, LLC

    acquisition

  4. 2022-11-02 · Security Agreement

    DRYSHIELD, LLCMIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST

    securitization

  5. 2023-04-25 · Correction

    DRYSHIELD, LLCSOLMETEX, LLC

    internal reorg

  6. 2025-03-18 · Security Agreement

    DRYSHIELD, LLC, IMPLADENT, LTD., SOLMETEX, LLC, STERISIL, INC.CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT

    securitization

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.

✓ Generated

Inventors

The named inventors for US Patent 11826217 are Thien Nguyen, Tam Thanh Pham, Ethan Nguyen, and Lauren Nguyen. The application was filed on May 8, 2020, by Solmetex LLC. [cite: "2020-05-08 Application filed by Solmetex LLC"] While Solmetex LLC filed the application as the original assignee, an assignment of the inventors' interest to DRYSHIELD, LLC was recorded on June 23, 2020. [cite: "2020-06-23 Assigned to DRYSHIELD, LLC Assignors: PHAM, Tam Thanh, NGUYEN, ETHAN, NGUYEN, LAUREN, NGUYEN, THIEN"] This pattern suggests the inventors were likely employed by or had an obligation to assign their rights to either Solmetex LLC or DRYSHIELD, LLC around the time of the invention and application filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on the patent and responsible for filing the application, is Solmetex LLC. [cite: "Original Assignee Solmetex LLC", "2020-05-08 Application filed by Solmetex LLC"] Solmetex LLC operates in the dental industry, specializing in dental equipment and hygiene, particularly intraoral dental suction and isolation mouthpieces, as described in the patent. The company appears to be an active operating entity, with the patent currently listed as "Active." [cite: "Status Active"] It is highly probable that Solmetex LLC ships products embodying the claims, given the nature of the patent and its current active status.

Assignment timeline

The following assignment records are derived from the "Events" section of the patent document. Reel/Frame numbers and Correspondent information are not available in the provided patent text.

  • 2020-06-23 (executed) / recorded (not determinable)

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: Thien Nguyen, Tam Thanh Pham, Ethan Nguyen, Lauren Nguyen (Inventors)
    • Assignee: DRYSHIELD, LLC
    • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
    • Context: Initial assignment of inventor rights to an entity. [cite: "2020-06-23 Assigned to DRYSHIELD, LLC Assignors: PHAM, Tam Thanh, NGUYEN, ETHAN, NGUYEN, LAUREN, NGUYEN, THIEN"]

  • 2022-06-03 (executed) / recorded (not determinable)

    • Conveyance: Security Interest
    • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
    • Assignee: MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST
    • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
    • Context: Securitization as collateral for a loan. [cite: "2022-06-03 Assigned to MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST Assignors: DRYSHIELD, LLC"]

  • 2022-06-06 (executed) / recorded (not determinable)

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
    • Assignee: SOLMETEX, LLC
    • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
    • Context: Transfer of ownership from DRYSHIELD, LLC to Solmetex LLC. [cite: "2022-06-06 Assigned to SOLMETEX, LLC Assignors: DRYSHIELD, LLC"]

  • 2022-11-02 (executed) / recorded (not determinable)

    • Conveyance: Security Interest
    • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
    • Assignee: MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST
    • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
    • Context: Securitization as collateral for a loan, likely a new or updated agreement. [cite: "2022-11-02 Assigned to MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST Assignors: DRYSHIELD, LLC"]

  • 2023-04-25 (executed) / recorded (not determinable)

    • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
    • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
    • Assignee: SOLMETEX, LLC
    • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
    • Context: Corrective transfer of ownership, confirming previous assignment from DRYSHIELD, LLC to Solmetex LLC. [cite: "2023-04-25 Assigned to SOLMETEX, LLC Assignors: DRYSHIELD, LLC"]

  • 2025-03-18 (executed) / recorded (not determinable)

    • Conveyance: Security Interest
    • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC, IMPLADENT, LTD., SOLMETEX, LLC, STERISIL, INC.
    • Assignee: CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
    • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided text.
    • Context: Securitization as collateral for a loan, involving multiple entities including the current owner, Solmetex LLC. [cite: "2025-03-18 Assigned to CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT Assignors: DRYSHIELD, LLC, IMPLADENT, LTD., SOLMETEX, LLC, STERISIL, INC."]

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US11826217
    2020 : Filed by Solmetex LLC
         : Inventors to DRYSHIELD LLC
    2022 : DRYSHIELD to MIDCAP (Security)
         : DRYSHIELD to SOLMETEX
         : DRYSHIELD to MIDCAP (Security)
    2023 : DRYSHIELD to SOLMETEX (Corrective)
    2025 : Multiple entities to CHURCHILL (Security)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Unclear. While DRYSHIELD, LLC acted as an intermediary assignee, there is insufficient information in the provided text to definitively classify it as a shell entity. The transfers (including a corrective assignment) between DRYSHIELD, LLC and Solmetex LLC, with Solmetex LLC being the original and current operating company assignee, suggest corporate restructuring rather than a shell-entity transfer for assertion purposes. No specific addresses or business activities for DRYSHIELD, LLC are provided.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the listed assignees (Solmetex LLC, DRYSHIELD, LLC, MIDCAP FINANCIAL TRUST, CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC) are commonly recognized as prominent patent assertion entities (NPEs).
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information (attorney name, firm, address) is not provided in the supplied patent text for any of the assignment events.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are multiple transfers (one from inventors to DRYSHIELD, LLC, two transfers of ownership from DRYSHIELD, LLC to Solmetex LLC, and several security interests), these do not represent rapid, consecutive assignments through a chain of potentially related shell LLCs, but rather reflect initial inventor assignment, corporate transfers between two entities, and financing arrangements. The corrective assignment from DRYSHIELD to SOLMETEX [cite: "2023-04-25 Assigned to SOLMETEX, LLC"] indicates clarification of ownership between these parties.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The last ownership transfer (corrective assignment to Solmetex LLC) occurred on 2023-04-25. The first recorded litigation for this patent was filed on 2024-07-01 in the Michigan Western District Court. [cite: "US case filed in Michigan Western District Court litigation Critical https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/litigation/Michigan%20Western%20District%20Court/case/1%3A24-cv-00954"] This period of over 14 months between the last ownership transfer and the litigation filing is longer than the typical 6-month window indicating pre-litigation transfer.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the provided patent text or its legal events of any assignee entering bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — Unclear. This cannot be determined from the provided assignment records alone, as it typically requires external financial disclosures or investigative reporting.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The ownership chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregators such as RPX, AST, LOT Network, Unified Patents, or Open Invention Network. The current assignee, Solmetex LLC, is an operating company.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The evidence indicates that US11826217 is currently owned by Solmetex LLC, an operating company in the dental industry that also filed the original application. The recorded assignments primarily reflect initial inventor assignment, corporate transfers between DRYSHIELD, LLC and Solmetex LLC (culminating in a corrective assignment to Solmetex LLC on 2023-04-25), and security interests with financial institutions [cite: "2020-06-23 Assigned to DRYSHIELD, LLC", "2022-06-06 Assigned to SOLMETEX, LLC", "2023-04-25 Assigned to SOLMETEX, LLC", "2025-03-18 Assigned to CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC"]. These patterns are consistent with an operating company managing its intellectual property and financing, rather than a patent assertion entity. The patent is currently involved in a US District Court case [cite: "US case filed in Michigan Western District Court"] where Solmetex LLC is the implied asserter.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/17/2026, 6:46:52 AM