Assignment history

Inventors

• J. Carl Cooper: Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated, but listed as "Individual" original assignee on the patent. No unusual patterns are noted regarding inventor departure as the inventor is the original assignee.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on the patent and confirmed by the assignment record, was J. Carl Cooper (Individual). There is no information to suggest J. Carl Cooper, as an individual, shipped products embodying the claims. His primary line of business would be that of an inventor. His current status is an individual who assigned the patent to PSLC LLC.

Assignment timeline

• 2024-09-25 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-27 — Reel 065586/0394
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: COOPER, JAMES CARL (INDIVIDUAL)
  • Assignee: PSLC LLC
  • Correspondent: ROBERT E. SCHOFIELD, ATTORNEY AT LAW, 5957 S. HIGHLAND DRIVE, SUITE C, SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84121.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter (from inventor to an LLC that subsequently filed litigation).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11967857
    2020 : Filed by J Carl Cooper
    2024 : Issued
    2024 : Assigned to PSLC LLC
    2024 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was assigned from an individual inventor to "PSLC LLC". There is no readily available information indicating that PSLC LLC manufactures or sells products. Furthermore, a related entity "PSLC-UNIT 2,LLC" in Florida has a principal address that appears residential and a registered agent. This suggests PSLC LLC is a licensing or asserting entity rather than an operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. While PSLC LLC is actively asserting the patent in litigation against Generac Power Systems, Inc., it does not appear on commonly cited public NPE lists (e.g., Acacia Research Corp, Marathon Patent Group) within the provided search context. Its current litigation activity does, however, mark it as an asserter.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Only one assignment is recorded for this patent, thus there is no recurrence of a correspondent. The correspondent is ROBERT E. SCHOFIELD, ATTORNEY AT LAW (Reel 065586/0394).
4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only one assignment is recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to PSLC LLC on September 25, 2024 (executed date). An infringement suit (case 2:24-cv-01270, PSLC LLC v. Generac Power Systems Inc.) was filed in the Wisconsin Eastern District Court on October 7, 2024. This means the litigation was filed 12 days after the assignment, well within the 6-month window, indicating a pre-litigation transfer to enable assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication that the original assignor (J. Carl Cooper) or any subsequent assignor was in bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information in the provided context to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to PSLC LLC to assert on its behalf. The initial transfer was from an individual inventor.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with PSLC LLC, which is currently asserting the patent, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by two strong signals: a shell-entity transfer to PSLC LLC, an entity with no clear product-shipping business, and a pre-litigation transfer, where the patent was assigned to PSLC LLC just 12 days before an infringement lawsuit was filed against Generac Power Systems, Inc.. This pattern is highly indicative of patent assertion by a non-practicing entity.

Verification: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US11967857