Assignment history

Inventors

• David F. Brueck: Employment at the time of the original 2004/2005 filing is presumed to be with Move Networks, Inc.
• Mark B. Hurst: Employment at the time of the original 2004/2005 filing is presumed to be with Move Networks, Inc. Co-founded SuperSet Software with Drew Major, which was foundational to Novell NetWare.
• R. Drew Major: A principal engineer of Novell NetWare and founder of Move Networks, Inc. He was with Move Networks at the time of the original filing.

There are no unusual patterns noted, as the inventors were founders and key technical personnel at the original assignee.

Original assignee

The patent lists "Dish Technologies LLC" as the current and original assignee. However, this is a result of the application being a 2022 continuation of a chain of applications originating in 2005. The technology and inventors trace back to Move Networks, Inc., a Utah-based company that pioneered adaptive bitrate streaming technology.

Move Networks developed and shipped products embodying the claims, providing streaming technology to major broadcasters like ABC, Fox, and ESPN. The company was a significant venture-backed startup, raising over $100 million from investors including Microsoft, Cisco, and Comcast. After facing intense competition from Adobe and Microsoft, which integrated similar technology into their platforms, Move Networks struggled financially and laid off its workforce. Its assets, primarily its patent portfolio, were acquired by EchoStar in a deal executed in late 2010 for approximately $45 million. EchoStar and Dish Network have a complex corporate history, with Dish Network being spun off from EchoStar in 2007 and the companies later merging in 2024. DISH Technologies LLC is the R&D and patent-holding arm of DISH Network.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for US Patent 11,991,234 shows no recorded assignments for this specific patent number.

This is expected, as the patent was filed by and issued directly to DISH Technologies LLC, which inherited the technology and priority claim through its corporate parent's acquisition of the original innovator, Move Networks, Inc. The key ownership transfer of the underlying intellectual property occurred years before this specific continuation patent was filed or issued. The critical assignment to track is that of the parent patent family.

A search for the parent application (Ser. No. 11/116,783, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,868,772) reveals the following key transfer:

• 2010-12-31 (executed) / recorded 2011-03-24 — Reel 025983/0369
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST
  • Assignor: MOVE NETWORKS, INC.
  • Assignee: ECHOSTAR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: RYAN T. GRACE, ESQ., GRACE & GRACE LLP, NEW YORK, NY
  • Context: This represents the fire-sale acquisition of Move Networks' assets and patent portfolio by EchoStar following Move's financial distress.

Subsequent transfers likely occurred through internal corporate reorganizations between EchoStar and DISH entities, culminating in DISH Technologies LLC being the applicant of record for the '234 patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11991234 Patent Family
    2004 : Provisional patent filed by Move Networks
    2005 : First non-provisional application filed
    2010 : Move Networks assets sold to EchoStar
    2011 : Assignment from Move to EchoStar recorded
    2022 : DISH Technologies LLC files this patent
    2024 : Patent 11991234 issues to DISH
         : DISH asserts patent in litigation

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not Present. The transfer was from a distressed operating company (Move Networks) to another major operating company (EchoStar/DISH). DISH Technologies is the R&D and IP holding arm of an operating company, not a shell for litigation.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. DISH Technologies LLC is a frequent plaintiff in patent litigation. While an operating company, its litigation activity is extensive and often targets companies outside its direct satellite/streaming competitor market, a pattern sometimes associated with NPE-like behavior. The company is listed as a plaintiff in numerous cases by RPX and Unified Patents.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Insufficient Data. The key assignment from Move to EchoStar was recorded by a law firm. There are no other recorded assignments for this specific patent to establish a pattern.

4. Cascading transfers — Not Present. There is no evidence of rapid, successive transfers through shell LLCs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not Present. The acquisition of the portfolio occurred in 2010, well over a decade before the litigation mentioned in the case files involving this specific patent. The current assignee, DISH Technologies, filed the patent and is also the plaintiff.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Present. While not a formal bankruptcy, the asset sale from Move Networks to EchoStar was a fire-sale conducted after Move laid off its entire workforce and failed to compete with larger players, which is functionally equivalent. This is the event that transferred the patent family to the current asserting entity.

7. Privateering — Not Present. This is a direct assertion by the patent owner, not an assertion by a third-party NPE on its behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not Present. The chain does not end at a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

DISH Technologies LLC is the patent-holding subsidiary of DISH Network (now part of EchoStar), a major US provider of satellite television, streaming (Sling TV), and wireless services. The patent portfolio was acquired from the original innovator, Move Networks, after it became financially distressed and has since been actively asserted by DISH against various companies. Because the current assignee ships products (Sling TV) that directly embody the adaptive bitrate streaming claims and is suing alleged infringers, this is a clear case of an operating company asserting its patents.

The verification link for assignment records is: https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html (Search for patent number 11991234 and parent patent 8868772).