Assignment history

Inventors

• Peter D. Karabinis: Employer at time of original priority filing (2008-11-04) not explicitly stated in the patent text. However, he co-founded Telcom Ventures LLC, the original assignee for the patent family, with Rajendra Singh.
• Rajendra Singh: Employer at time of original priority filing (2008-11-04) not explicitly stated in the patent text. He founded Telcom Ventures LLC, the original assignee for the patent family, and is its CEO.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Telcom Ventures LLC.
Telcom Ventures LLC is a principal investment firm specializing in venture capital and private equity investments in the wireless communications and technology industries, founded in 1993. It does not appear to ship products embodying the claims directly. Instead, it invests in other companies. Telcom Ventures LLC is currently active. Rajendra Singh, an inventor of the patent, is the CEO of Telcom Ventures LLC. The firm is actively asserting its patent portfolio against technology companies like Samsung and Apple, indicating a primary line of business that includes patent monetization.

Assignment timeline

No recorded assignments for US patent 11937172 were found via the USPTO Patent Assignment Search at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/. This means that Telcom Ventures LLC, as the current assignee identified on Google Patents (and through other public records related to its litigation activities), likely received the rights through an assignment that predates the formal recording or was handled differently for this specific divisional patent application. However, Google Patents lists a specific event for this patent:

• 2024-01-03 (executed) / recorded N/A (not a formal USPTO recording with reel/frame)
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Singh, Rajendra; Karabinis, Peter D.
  • Assignee: TELCOM VENTURES, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified in this Google Patents event.
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to an investment firm; likely a formalization of ownership for this specific divisional patent application.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11937172
    2008 : Priority date established
    2023 : Application filed
    2024 : Inventors assign to Telcom Ventures LLC
         : Patent issued
         : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was assigned to Telcom Ventures LLC, an investment firm that specializes in venture capital and private equity in the wireless communications industry. Rather than producing goods, Telcom Ventures LLC invests in other companies. It is actively asserting its patent portfolio against technology companies like Samsung and Apple, indicating its role in patent monetization. The entity's primary business does not involve shipping products embodying the claims, consistent with a licensing-only or assertion-focused entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Telcom Ventures LLC has been identified by sources like Mondaq and RPX as an inventor-controlled plaintiff that has filed lawsuits against major technology companies (Samsung, Apple) asserting patents, including US11937172. This aligns with patterns of a patent assertion entity (PAE) or NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. There are no recorded assignments for US11937172 in the USPTO Assignment Center, so no correspondent information is available to identify recurrence.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There are no recorded assignments for US11937172 in the USPTO Assignment Center. The Google Patents event shows a direct assignment from the inventors to Telcom Ventures LLC for this specific patent.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The patent was granted on 2024-03-19. Litigation against Samsung was filed in August 2024 (2:24-cv-00691), and against Apple in January 2025 (1:24-cv-23837). This means the first infringement suit was filed approximately five months after the patent was granted, and within six months of the reported assignment from the inventors to Telcom Ventures LLC on 2024-01-03. This rapid succession of assignment and litigation is a strong indicator of an assertion-driven strategy.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the patent records or associated searches that the original assignee underwent bankruptcy proceedings leading to the patent's transfer.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Telcom Ventures LLC asserts patents of its founder, there is no public information definitively indicating a specific operating company transferred the patent to Telcom Ventures LLC to assert patents on its behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee is Telcom Ventures LLC, which is actively asserting the patent, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The patent was assigned from the inventors to Telcom Ventures LLC in January 2024, shortly before its grant in March 2024. Telcom Ventures LLC, an investment firm rather than a product manufacturer, initiated infringement lawsuits against Samsung in August 2024 and Apple in January 2025, approximately five months and ten months after grant, respectively. This pattern of assignment to a non-producing entity followed almost immediately by aggressive litigation is a strong indicator of patent assertion, and Telcom Ventures LLC is identified as an inventor-controlled plaintiff in this context.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center. No recorded assignments for US11937172 at: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html