Assignment history

Inventors

• Mary Anne Fletcher (Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated, but appears to be the original inventor who assigned rights to Weple IP Holdings LLC).

Original assignee

Weple IP Holdings LLC is named as the original assignee on the issued patent US12131357B2.
Based on available information, Weple IP Holdings LLC does not appear to ship products embodying the claims. Their primary line of business appears to be patent licensing and assertion, as evidenced by ongoing litigation associated with this patent family. Weple IP Holdings LLC is currently operating and actively asserting this patent.

Assignment timeline

• 2024-01-25 (executed) / recorded 2024-02-05 — Reel 062973/0746
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: FLETCHER, MARY ANNE
  • Assignee: WEPLE IP HOLDINGS LLC
  • Correspondent: FLETCHER, MARY ANNE 5430 S. 27TH STREET, #100, KALAMAZOO, MI 49002. This is the only correspondent recorded for this patent.
  • Context: Transfer of rights from inventor to an IP holding company.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12131357
    2010 : Priority application filed
    2024 : Inventor assigned to Weple IP Holdings LLC
    2024 : Issued
    2024 : First infringement suit filed
    2026 : PTAB case filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was assigned from the inventor, Mary Anne Fletcher, to Weple IP Holdings LLC. Weple IP Holdings LLC does not appear to manufacture products, and its activities, as indicated by ongoing litigation for this patent family, are consistent with a licensing or assertion entity. The "IP Holdings" suffix in the name also suggests this.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Weple IP Holdings LLC is actively litigating this patent, with district court cases (e.g., 2:24-cv-01316) and PTAB proceedings (IPR2026-00081) noted in the Google Patents legal events. Unified Patents also tracks their activity, indicating they are a known entity involved in patent assertions.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. The only recorded correspondent is Mary Anne Fletcher for Reel 062973/0746. Without additional assignment records for this patent or other patents in the chain, it's not possible to determine if this correspondent recurs across multiple links or is known for NPE work.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There is only one recorded assignment for this patent from the inventor to Weple IP Holdings LLC.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent application leading to US12131357 was filed on 2024-01-25. The assignment from the inventor to Weple IP Holdings LLC was executed on 2024-01-25 and recorded on 2024-02-05 (Reel 062973/0746). A US case was filed in Washington Western District Court (2:24-cv-01316) in 2024, and a PTAB case IPR2026-00081 was filed in 2026. The transfer of ownership occurred at or very near the time the application was filed, and prior to the initiation of identified litigation, indicating it was structured for future assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy from the original inventor or Weple IP Holdings LLC.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no publicly available information in the patent text or Google Patents legal events (including SEC filings) to suggest that an operating company transferred this patent to Weple IP Holdings LLC to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Weple IP Holdings LLC, an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on multiple strong signals. The patent was transferred from the inventor to Weple IP Holdings LLC, an entity that does not appear to ship products and is actively engaged in patent assertion, as evidenced by multiple listed litigation events (district court case 2:24-cv-01316 and PTAB case IPR2026-00081). The transfer occurred effectively at the time of the patent application's filing, well in advance of the identified assertion activity.

USPTO Assignment Center record: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html?cn=[12131357](/patent/12131357)