Assignment history

Inventors

• Bennet Langlotz (Self-employed / Langlotz Patent & Trademark Works, LLC).

Original assignee

The original assignee, Bulletproof Property Management LLC, is listed as a property management company based in Clovis, CA, and Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Their primary line of business appears to be property management services, including tenant placement, maintenance coordination, and rent collection, as well as providing tools and guidance for real estate investors and agents. There's no indication that they ship a product embodying the claims of the patent, which relates to vehicle gear selection control. Bulletproof Property Management LLC is currently operating.

It's notable that Bennet Langlotz, the inventor, is also listed as counsel for Bulletproof Property Management, LLC in trademark appeal cases, specifically for marks related to firearms. This suggests a connection between the inventor and the assignee beyond a typical employment relationship, where the assignee's core business of property management seems unrelated to the patent's subject matter.

Assignment timeline

• 2023-06-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-06-05 — Reel 063548/0747
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: LANGLOTZ, Bennet
  • Assignee: BULLETPROOF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC.
  • Correspondent: Bennet K. Langlotz, LANGLOTZ PATENT & TRADEMARK WORKS, LLC, P.O. BOX 660675 #37585, DALLAS, TX 75266. This correspondent also appears as counsel for the assignee in trademark cases.
  • Context: Transfer from inventor to assignee at the time of patent application filing.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11932230
    2023 : Filed & Assigned to Bulletproof Property Management LLC
    2024 : Issued
    2025 : First infringement suit filed
    2026 : PTAB IPR filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was assigned to "Bulletproof Property Management, LLC" (Reel 063548/0747). While this entity has publicly available information indicating property management as its business, and also offers products related to real estate and landlord guidance, these activities are unrelated to vehicle gear selection control, which is the subject of the patent. The discrepancy between the assignee's stated business and the patent's subject matter, coupled with the inventor serving as the correspondent and counsel, suggests the possibility of a shell entity for patent assertion purposes.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Bulletproof Property Management LLC is not identified on common public NPE lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Bennet K. Langlotz of Langlotz Patent & Trademark Works, LLC is the correspondent for the assignment (Reel 063548/0747). Bennet K. Langlotz also appears as counsel for Bulletproof Property Management, LLC in trademark appeal cases, indicating a recurring role in the intellectual property matters for this entity.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment for this patent.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment from the inventor to Bulletproof Property Management LLC occurred on the filing date of the patent (June 5, 2023), well before the first infringement suit filed on May 5, 2025.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication of the original assignee being in bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While there's no direct evidence of privateering, the disconnect between Bulletproof Property Management LLC's core business (property management) and the patent's subject matter (vehicle gear selection) raises questions about the strategic purpose of the patent ownership.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence. The primary signals are the shell-entity transfer and the repeat correspondent across the chain. The patent was assigned to Bulletproof Property Management, LLC (Reel 063548/0747), an entity whose core business of property management and real estate services appears entirely unrelated to the vehicle technology covered by the patent. Furthermore, Bennet K. Langlotz, the inventor, acts as the correspondent on the assignment record and as legal counsel for the assignee in other IP matters, suggesting a close and potentially strategic relationship for patent assertion rather than product commercialization.

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