Assignment history

Inventors

• Lawrence Demonico (Employer: Not determinable from patent text or Google Patents)

Original assignee

The original assignee is ABC IP LLC, as listed on the issued patent and the assignment record. The patent text defines the invention as relating to "a semiautomatic firearm trigger adapted for use in certain weapons platforms or calibers". While the patent is assigned to ABC IP LLC, it does not provide information on whether ABC IP LLC directly ships a product embodying the claims or its primary line of business. Therefore, its current operating status (operating, acquired, dissolved, in bankruptcy) is not determinable from the provided information.

Assignment timeline

• 2022-11-04 (executed) / recorded 2022-11-04 — Reel 060596/0046
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: DEMONICO, LAWRENCE
  • Assignee: ABC IP, LLC
  • Correspondent: BRENT E. ROUSE, 11440 NORTH CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY, SUITE 400, DALLAS, TEXAS 75243. This correspondent appears multiple times on this site's tracked patents related to ABC IP, LLC.
  • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to ABC IP, LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12031784
    2022 : Filed by ABC IP LLC
         : Assigned to ABC IP LLC from inventor
    2024 : Issued

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While "ABC IP, LLC" has an "IP" suffix, there is no direct evidence in the provided information (e.g., product information, registered-agent address, state of incorporation) to definitively label it as a shell entity. The litigation summary indicates ABC IP, LLC is a plaintiff in multiple lawsuits.
2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. ABC IP, LLC is a plaintiff in multiple litigations as noted in the litigation summary, but it is not explicitly listed as a "known asserter" from standard public NPE lists like Marathon Patent Group or Intellectual Ventures in the provided text.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. BRENT E. ROUSE from 11440 NORTH CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY, SUITE 400, DALLAS, TEXAS 75243 is listed as the correspondent on reel 060596/0046. This correspondent has been flagged as recurring in other patent assignments tracked on this site for entities related to ABC IP, LLC.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only one assignment from the inventor to ABC IP, LLC is recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The assignment from the inventor to ABC IP, LLC was executed and recorded on November 4, 2022 (Reel 060596/0046), well before the earliest reported litigation filing date of March 23, 2026 for ABC IP LLC v. Mars Trigger LLC.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy proceedings for the assignor or assignee.
7. Privateering — unclear. While ABC IP, LLC is asserting the patent, there's no information to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to ABC IP, LLC to assert on its behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence

The verdict is moderate confidence NPE. While the initial assignment is from the inventor to ABC IP, LLC (Reel 060596/0046), the "IP" suffix in the assignee's name, coupled with the recurring correspondent BRENT E. ROUSE, strongly suggests a pattern consistent with patent assertion entities. Additionally, the patent is currently involved in multiple district court litigations, with ABC IP, LLC acting as a plaintiff, which is characteristic of a non-practicing entity.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US12031784