Assignment history

Inventors

The sole inventor is Mary Anne Fletcher. No employer at the time of filing is listed in the provided documents. The patent was assigned by the inventor to Weple IP Holdings LLC on the same day the application was filed, which is a common practice.

Original assignee

The original and current assignee of record is Weple IP Holdings LLC. The name "IP Holdings LLC" suggests a non-practicing entity (NPE) created for the purpose of holding and monetizing intellectual property rather than producing goods or services. Public records indicate Weple IP Holdings LLC is actively involved in patent litigation, asserting patents from this family against operating companies. There is no evidence that the assignee has ever shipped a product embodying the claims.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for US patent 12112357 reveals a single recorded assignment.

• 2024-01-25 (executed) / recorded 2024-02-05 — Reel 069635/0670
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Mary Anne Fletcher (Inventor)
  • Assignee: Weple IP Holdings LLC
  • Correspondent: Robert P. Lord, Law Office of Robert P. Lord, P.O. Box 1064, Groton, MA, 01450
  • Context: This is the initial assignment transferring the invention from the inventor to the holding company on the same day the patent application was filed.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12112357
    2010 : Priority date established
    2024 : Application filed
         : Assigned to Weple IP Holdings LLC
         : Granted as US 12112357
         : Family member patent asserted vs T-Mobile

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred on the day of its filing from the inventor directly to Weple IP Holdings LLC. The assignee name, a "Holdings LLC," is characteristic of a non-practicing entity established for licensing or litigation rather than product development (Reel 069635/0670).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The assignee, Weple IP Holdings LLC, is a known patent asserter. It is listed as the plaintiff in litigation against T-Mobile (case 2:24-cv-01316, Western District of Washington) involving a related patent from the same family, as documented by Unified Patents.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. Only one assignment is on record, so there is no recurrence of the correspondent, Robert P. Lord.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only a single recorded assignment from the inventor to the current assignee.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to Weple IP Holdings LLC was executed on 2024-01-25. While this patent (issued 2024-10-08) has not yet been asserted, a sibling patent from the same family was asserted in litigation filed on 2024-09-11. The initial transfer to the holding company was a foundational step taken in the same year that litigation began, indicating a strategy of monetization through assertion from the outset.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence of an operating company transferring the patent to be asserted on its behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not involve any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignee, Weple IP Holdings LLC, is a non-practicing entity with "IP Holdings" in its name, and it received the patent directly from the inventor at the time of filing (Reel 069635/0670). This same entity is confirmed by Unified Patents to be actively litigating other patents from the same family within months of this patent's application, establishing a clear pattern of assertion. The combination of a shell-like holding company structure and active litigation provides high confidence in its status as an NPE.

Verification link: USPTO Assignment Search for US 12112357