Assignment history

Inventors

• Dean Solon: The sole inventor listed is Dean Solon. At the time of the original provisional application filing in 2014, and for all subsequent continuation applications, Mr. Solon was the founder and a principal of Shoals Technologies Group, LLC. This represents a standard inventor-to-employer assignment with no unusual patterns.

Original assignee

• Shoals Technologies Group LLC: Shoals Technologies Group LLC is the original and current assignee. The company is a leading manufacturer and supplier of electrical balance of system (EBOS) solutions for solar energy projects, including the "lead assembly" and "wire harness" products described and claimed in the patent. Shoals is a major, publicly-traded operating company (NASDAQ: SHLS) that designs, manufactures, and sells products that clearly embody the claims of US Patent 12,015,376. The company is active and operational.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment database for US Patent 12,015,376 and its parent applications reveals only assignments from the inventor to the original assignee, Shoals Technologies Group, LLC. There have been no subsequent transfers to any other entities.

• 2023-11-29 (executed) / recorded 2023-11-30 — Reel 065586/0394
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Solon, Dean
  • Assignee: Shoals Technologies Group, LLC
  • Correspondent: Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP, 120 South LaSalle Street, Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60603
  • Context: This is the formal assignment from the inventor to his company for the application that matured into US patent 12,015,376, a standard pre-issuance formality. Similar inventor-to-assignee assignments were recorded for all parent applications in the chain.

You can verify the assignment record here: USPTO Assignment Search for US Pat. 12,015,376

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12,015,376
    2014 : Priority application filed by Dean Solon
    2015 : Assigned to Shoals Technologies Group
    2023 : Continuation application filed
         : Re-assigned to Shoals Technologies Group
    2024 : Patent granted

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Not present. The patent has never been transferred from the original assignee. It remains held by the operating company, Shoals Technologies Group, LLC.

2. Known asserter in the chain: Not present. The only assignee of record is Shoals Technologies Group, LLC, which is a manufacturing and operating company, not a known patent asserter.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. While the firm Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP appears on the most recent assignment, this is consistent with a company using established outside counsel for its patent prosecution and management. There is no pattern indicative of NPE activity.

4. Cascading transfers: Not present. There have been no transfers subsequent to the initial inventor assignment.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Not present. The patent was issued very recently (June 18, 2024) and has not been transferred. The Google Patents page for this patent family indicates litigation involving parent patents, but the transfers on record are routine inventor-to-company assignments, not pre-litigation transfers to an assertion entity.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. Shoals Technologies Group is a financially healthy, publicly-traded company.

7. Privateering: Not present. The patent is held by the operating company itself.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present.

Verdict

• Insufficient data

This patent was recently granted and the only recorded ownership event is the initial assignment from the inventor to his operating company, Shoals Technologies Group, LLC. This is a standard transaction for a patent developed internally at a technology company. There are no signals whatsoever to suggest non-practicing entity (NPE) or "patent troll" activity. The assignee manufactures and sells products directly related to the patent's claims.