Assignment history

Inventors

• Dean Solon. At the time of the patent's priority date (September 9, 2014), Dean Solon was the founder and CEO of Shoals Technologies Group. The record indicates a standard inventor-employer relationship with no unusual patterns.

Original assignee

The original assignee is Shoals Technologies Group, LLC. The company is a leading manufacturer and supplier of electrical balance of systems (eBOS) solutions for solar power projects. The patent, which covers a lead assembly to connect solar arrays to inverters without a combiner box, directly relates to Shoals' core business of innovating and selling solar wiring components. Shoals is an active, publicly-traded operating company (NASDAQ: SHLS) that manufactures and sells products embodying the claims.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database reveals a single assignment recorded for US Patent 12,015,375.

• 2015-10-29 (executed) / recorded 2023-06-26 — Reel 064063/0952
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: SOLON, DEAN
  • Assignee: SHOALS TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, LLC
  • Correspondent: Stephen J. Stark, Miller & Martin PLLC, 1200 Volunteer Bldg, 832 Georgia Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37402
  • Context: This is a routine confirmatory assignment from the sole inventor to his employer, formalizing the company's ownership of the invention.

No other assignments have been recorded.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12015375
    2014 : Priority date
    2015 : Inventor Dean Solon assigns rights to Shoals
    2023 : Assignment recorded with USPTO
    2024 : Patent granted to Shoals Technologies Group

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The only recorded transfer is from the inventor to the operating company he founded. The assignee is a well-established manufacturer.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. The owner, Shoals Technologies Group, LLC, is an operating company and is not listed as an NPE by industry watchdogs like RPX or Unified Patents.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There is only one assignment, so no pattern can be established.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There are no consecutive assignments.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment is a standard inventor-to-employer transfer. The litigation involving this patent family (e.g., ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1438) is being conducted by the original assignee, Shoals Technologies Group, LLC, not a third-party assertion entity.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The original assignee is a financially healthy public company.
7. Privateering — Not present. The patent is being asserted directly by the operating company that developed the technology.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent has not been transferred to a defensive entity.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.

The evidence clearly indicates that US Patent 12,015,375 has been owned by a single, active operating company, Shoals Technologies Group, LLC, since its inception. The only recorded assignment is a standard inventor-to-employer transfer. The litigation associated with the patent family is enforcement by the manufacturer against its competitors, which is characteristic of an operating company protecting its intellectual property and market share, not NPE activity.

The assignment record can be verified at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search (search for patent number 12015375).