Assignment history

Inventors

• Thien Nguyen (Solmetex LLC)
• Tam Thanh Pham (Solmetex LLC)

There are no unusual patterns indicating inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing based on the provided patent text.

Original assignee

Solmetex LLC.

Solmetex LLC appears to be an operating company in the dental industry, focused on amalgam waste management and dental suction systems. The patent describes an "Intraoral device" for dental suction and isolation, which aligns with Solmetex's stated business. It is unclear from the provided text whether Solmetex LLC currently ships a product directly embodying the claims of US12011329B2.

Current status: Operating. Solmetex LLC is listed as the "Current Assignee" on Google Patents.

Assignment timeline

• 2023-07-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-07-05 — Reel 006209/0130

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: PHAM, TAM THANH; NGUYEN, THIEN
  • Assignee: INCEPT, INC.
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. MCCOLLOUGH, BOSE MCKINNEY & EVANS LLP, 111 MONUMENT CIRCLE, SUITE 2700, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, 46204
  • Context: Internal reorg (transfer from inventors to a related entity).

• 2023-07-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-07-05 — Reel 006209/0132

  • Conveyance: CONVERSION
  • Assignor: INCEPT INCORPORATED
  • Assignee: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. MCCOLLOUGH, BOSE MCKINNEY & EVANS LLP, 111 MONUMENT CIRCLE, SUITE 2700, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, 46204. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal reorg (entity conversion).

• 2023-07-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-07-05 — Reel 006209/0134

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Assignee: SOLMETEX, LLC
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. MCCOLLOUGH, BOSE MCKINNEY & EVANS LLP, 111 MONUMENT CIRCLE, SUITE 2700, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, 46204. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal reorg (transfer to parent/sister entity).

• 2025-03-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-03-18 — Reel 006497/0858

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC; IMPLADENT, LTD.; SOLMETEX, LLC; STERISIL, INC.
  • Assignee: CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
  • Correspondent: CHRISTOPHER C. VERVILLE, JONES DAY, 250 VESEY STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10281-1047
  • Context: Securitization (loan collateral).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12011329
    2012 : Priority date Dec 7 2012
    2014 : Priority claimed from US14/228,057
    2023 : Application filed by Solmetex LLC
         : Assigned to Incept Inc
         : Assigned to Dryshield LLC
         : Assigned to Solmetex LLC
    2024 : Published
         : Application granted
    2025 : Security interest to Churchill Agency

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While the chain involves transfers between entities like INCEPT, INC. and DRYSHIELD, LLC, ultimately the patent returns to Solmetex, LLC. All entities appear related to the original inventor and current assignee. Without further information on the nature of Incept Inc. and Dryshield LLC's operations and product lines, it's hard to definitively classify them as shell entities for licensing only.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Incept Inc., Dryshield LLC, Solmetex LLC, or Churchill Agency Services LLC) are on the provided list of known NPEs.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Michael T. McCollough of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP is the correspondent for the three consecutive assignments on 2023-07-05 (Reel 006209/0130, 006209/0132, 006209/0134). This indicates a consistent legal representation for these transfers within the same chain.
4. Cascading transfers — present. There are three consecutive assignments on the same day, 2023-07-05, involving INCEPT, INC., DRYSHIELD, LLC, and SOLMETEX, LLC (Reel 006209/0130, 006209/0132, 006209/0134). These transfers are handled by the same correspondent and occur within a very short timeframe.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. There is litigation noted for the patent family, with an IPR filed in 2025 and a US case filed in Michigan Western District Court in 2024. The assignments occurred in July 2023. While the assignments precede the litigation, it is unclear if they occurred within 6 months of the first infringement suit specifically naming this patent.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy in the assignment records or Google Patents legal events for the original assignee, Solmetex LLC.
7. Privateering — not present. There is no evidence in the provided information to suggest privateering.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent originates from and returns to Solmetex LLC, an operating company in the dental field. While there are cascading transfers, they appear to be internal reorganizations given that the patent ultimately ends up back with Solmetex, LLC, which is also the original assignee of the family's earlier patents and current assignee. The presence of litigation (IPR and a district court case) suggests assertion, but it's likely by an operating company against competitors rather than an NPE, especially since no known NPEs are in the chain and the ultimate assignee is an operating company.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 12011329).