Assignment history

Inventors

Bennet Langlotz. The patent text does not specify an employer for the inventor.

Original assignee

The original assignee is Bulletproof Property Management LLC. The patent itself does not state whether Bulletproof Property Management LLC ships a product embodying the claims. The primary line of business for Bulletproof Property Management LLC is not explicitly stated in the patent. Based on the Google Patents legal status, the current status of the patent is "Active".

Assignment timeline

USPTO Assignment Search does not show any recorded assignments for US Patent 12240457. Therefore, it is assumed that the original assignee, Bulletproof Property Management LLC, still owns the patent.

Based on publicly available information, Bulletproof Property Management LLC appears to be involved in property management, with a presence in Clovis, CA, and Cuyahoga Falls, OH, operating as KMLK Property Management in the latter. It is unlikely that a property management company would ship a product embodying the claims of a vehicle gear selection control patent. There is also a company called "Bulletproof Innovations" that specializes in bulletproof doors and windows, and another called "BulletProof Real Estate Agent" that offers SEO services for real estate agents, but these appear to be distinct entities. Another "Bulletproof" brand is associated with health and wellness products, particularly "bulletproof coffee," but this also seems unrelated.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12240457
    2023 : Priority date
    2024 : Filed by Bulletproof Property Management LLC
    2025 : Issued to Bulletproof Property Management LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. There are no recorded assignments of the patent.
2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. While Bulletproof Property Management LLC is the plaintiff in a patent infringement lawsuit against Tesla, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (case 1:2025cv00665), whether this indicates it is a "known asserter" or NPE in a broader sense requires more extensive research into patent litigation databases and NPE lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. There are no recorded assignments.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no recorded assignments.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The patent was issued on March 4, 2025, and a litigation case (Bulletproof Property Management LLC v. Tesla, Inc.) was filed on May 5, 2025. This is within 6 months of issuance. However, without any recorded assignment, it's not a transfer specifically designed to enable assertion. The original assignee itself is the asserting entity.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy for Bulletproof Property Management LLC.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information in the patent or publicly available search results to suggest that Bulletproof Property Management LLC is asserting this patent on behalf of another operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is not currently assigned to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence

The patent is currently involved in litigation where Bulletproof Property Management LLC is the plaintiff against Tesla, Inc., and this litigation was filed shortly after the patent's issuance (May 5, 2025, vs. March 4, 2025 issuance date). Although there are no recorded assignments to a shell entity, it is highly unusual for a property management company to be the assignee and asserter of a vehicle gear selection control patent. This suggests that Bulletproof Property Management LLC, in the context of this patent, may be acting as a licensing or assertion entity, even if it also has a legitimate property management business. Further investigation into the company's other patent holdings and litigation history would be required for higher confidence.

USPTO Assignment Center Search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/