Patent 12143606

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (2)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2020-07-08 · reel 053074/0047 · Assignment

    YIN, PENG; LU, XIAOAN; SOLE, JOEL; XU, QIAN; ZHENG, YUNFEITHOMSON LICENSING

    Correspondent: Barry W. Waldron, III

    initial assignment from inventors

  2. 2020-09-23 · reel 053229/0812 · Assignment

    THOMSON LICENSINGINTERDIGITAL VC HOLDINGS, INC.

    Correspondent: Barry W. Waldron, III

    internal reorg

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Qian Xu (InterDigital VC Holdings Inc)
  • Yunfei Zheng (InterDigital VC Holdings Inc)
  • Xiaoan Lu (InterDigital VC Holdings Inc)
  • Peng Yin (InterDigital VC Holdings Inc)
  • Joel Sole (InterDigital VC Holdings Inc)

All inventors were employed by the original assignee, InterDigital VC Holdings Inc, at the time of filing. There is no immediate indication of all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing based on the provided data.

Original assignee

InterDigital VC Holdings Inc.
Based on the patent title "Methods and apparatus for improved intra chroma encoding and decoding" and its classification in "H04N19/00 — Methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals", InterDigital VC Holdings Inc's primary line of business is likely related to video coding, compression technologies, and potentially licensing of these technologies. InterDigital, Inc. (the parent company of InterDigital VC Holdings Inc) is known as a research and development company that develops mobile technologies and licenses its intellectual property.

Current Status: Active (Google Patents indicates "Active" legal status for US12143606B2).

Assignment timeline

  • 2020-07-08 (executed) / recorded 2020-07-08 — Reel 053074/0047

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: YIN, PENG; LU, XIAOAN; SOLE, JOEL; XU, QIAN; ZHENG, YUNFEI
    • Assignee: THOMSON LICENSING
    • Correspondent: BARRY W. WALDRON, III, P.O. BOX 5313, PRINCETON, NJ, 08543
    • Context: Transfer from inventors to Thomson Licensing. This is a common initial assignment from inventors to an employing entity or related holding company.

  • 2020-09-23 (executed) / recorded 2020-09-23 — Reel 053229/0812

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: THOMSON LICENSING
    • Assignee: INTERDIGITAL VC HOLDINGS, INC.
    • Correspondent: BARRY W. WALDRON, III, P.O. BOX 5313, PRINCETON, NJ, 08543. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Reassignment from Thomson Licensing to InterDigital VC Holdings, Inc. This appears to be an internal corporate reorganization or transfer between related entities, as InterDigital VC Holdings Inc is also the original assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12143606
    2009 : Priority Date
    2020 : Filed by InterDigital VC Holdings Inc
         : Inventors assigned to Thomson Licensing
         : Thomson Licensing assigned to InterDigital VC Holdings
    2024 : Issued
    2025 : US case filed Virginia Eastern
         : US case filed Virginia Eastern
    2026 : PTAB case IPR2026-00192 filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The assignees, Thomson Licensing and InterDigital VC Holdings, Inc., appear to be operating entities or direct subsidiaries of operating entities rather than shell companies. InterDigital is a known R&D and licensing company.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. InterDigital VC Holdings Inc. is known for patent licensing and assertion. While not on every "troll list," its business model involves asserting patents. However, the current litigation activity appears to be defensive or part of a broader licensing strategy rather than a clear "troll" pattern by an unrelated entity. Unified Patents has an IPR filed against this patent (IPR2026-00192), which is often indicative of defensive action against an asserting entity, but doesn't definitively classify InterDigital VC Holdings Inc as an NPE in the traditional sense of a non-practicing entity that acquires patents solely for litigation.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. BARRY W. WALDRON, III, P.O. BOX 5313, PRINCETON, NJ, 08543 appears as the correspondent on both the 2020-07-08 assignment (Reel 053074/0047) and the 2020-09-23 assignment (Reel 053229/0812).
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two assignments recorded, occurring within a short timeframe (July to September 2020), which appear to be related to an internal transfer or initial assignment from inventors, rather than a rapid succession of transfers through unrelated shell entities.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The patent issued on 2024-11-12. The two recorded assignments occurred in 2020, well before the identified litigation dates in 2025 (US cases filed in Virginia Eastern District Court) and 2026 (PTAB case filed). Therefore, the assignments did not occur within 6 months prior to the first infringement suit.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the provided data or Google Patents legal events that the original assignee or any subsequent assignee has filed for bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — unclear. While InterDigital engages in extensive licensing and patent assertion, and could be seen as asserting patents on behalf of operating companies (itself or its licensees), there's no explicit evidence within the provided records of a transfer specifically for privateering against a direct competitor of a transferor.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with InterDigital VC Holdings Inc., which is not a known defensive aggregator like RPX or AST. Unified Patents has filed an IPR against this patent, which is an action against a potential asserter, not an acquisition by a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence
The presence of litigation initiated by InterDigital VC Holdings Inc (or its parent) and the general business model of InterDigital, which involves extensive patent licensing and assertion, suggest a higher likelihood of NPE activity. The repeat correspondent also points to a consistent legal strategy. However, the direct assignments are to and from related corporate entities, not anonymous shell companies. While InterDigital's business model can lead to assertions against operating companies, it also involves R&D and contributes to standards, making a clear-cut "troll" label more nuanced without further detailed analysis of their overall portfolio and specific litigation strategies.

For verification, see the USPTO Patent Assignment Search for patent US12143606.

Generated 5/28/2026, 12:47:13 AM