Assignment history

Inventors

• Joshua Johnson: Employer not explicitly stated, but assigned rights to Gaea LLC.
• Curt Bruner: Employer not explicitly stated, but assigned rights to Gaea LLC.
• Jeffrey Reh: Employer not explicitly stated, but assigned rights to Gaea LLC.
• Christopher Squires: Employer not explicitly stated, but assigned rights to Gaea LLC.
• Brian Wilson: Employer not explicitly stated, but assigned rights to Gaea LLC.

It is highly probable that the inventors were affiliated with Gaea LLC (e.g., as employees or founders) given that they assigned their interest to Gaea LLC on February 25, 2025, prior to the patent's issuance on April 1, 2025. There are no unusual patterns suggesting inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing for a fire-sale, as the initial assignment appears to be to the intended assignee from the outset.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Gaea LLC.

Primary line of business: According to available information, Gaea Global Technologies, Inc., which appears to be a related or parent entity, is an "award-winning Oracle Partner that provides consulting and enterprise solutions for supply chain and project portfolio management." They offer services and cloud-based solutions such as "Cloud Label Service." However, there is no public evidence to suggest that Gaea LLC manufactures or ships physical "data storage devices with configurable policy-based storage device behavior" as described and claimed in U.S. Patent 12,265,715.

Current status: Gaea LLC is operating, as evidenced by its active engagement in patent litigation.

Assignment timeline

• 2025-02-25 (executed) / recorded 2025-02-26 — Reel 062630/0550
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: REH, JEFFREY; SQUIRES, CHRISTOPHER; WILSON, BRIAN; JOHNSON, JOSHUA; BRUNER, CURT
  • Assignee: Gaea LLC
  • Correspondent: MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP; 2000 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW, SUITE 5500; WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 20006-1888.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's rights to the corporate assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 122657715
    2016 : Priority Date
    2024 : Application filed
    2025 : Inventors assign to Gaea LLC
         : Patent issued
    2026 : Litigation filed by Gaea LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Unclear. The direct assignment is from the inventors to Gaea LLC. While Gaea Global Technologies (which may be affiliated with Gaea LLC) appears to be an operating company providing consulting and software solutions, there is no public evidence that Gaea LLC manufactures physical data storage devices embodying the claims of US 12,265,715. This suggests the patent may be held by a non-operating entity or an operating entity not practicing the specific patented technology.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Gaea LLC is actively involved in patent infringement litigation against major technology companies (e.g., [Meta Platforms Inc.](/litigations/by-plaintiff/Meta%20Platforms%20Inc.) and [[Samsung Electronics Co.](/litigations/by-defendant/Samsung%20Electronics%20Co.), Ltd.](/litigations/by-plaintiff/Samsung%20Electronics%20Co.%2C%20Ltd.)) concerning this patent family, indicating its role as an asserter.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. Only one assignment record is found for this patent, thus no recurrence within this specific chain. The correspondent, Morrison & Foerster LLP, is a large, established law firm representing a broad range of clients.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one assignment record is present.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment from the inventors to Gaea LLC was executed on February 25, 2025, and recorded on February 26, 2025 (Reel 062630/0550). The patent was issued on April 1, 2025. The first reported litigation for this patent (Gaea LLC v. Meta Platforms Inc., Case 4:26-cv-00348) was filed on March 23, 2026. This timeline indicates that the assignment took place prior to the patent's issuance and approximately one year before litigation commenced, suggesting a transfer arranged to enable assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. No information suggests Gaea LLC has filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no public evidence to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to Gaea LLC to assert on its behalf. The initial transfer is directly from the inventors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is being asserted, not acquired for defensive purposes.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

Gaea LLC is a known asserter, as evidenced by active litigation against Meta Platforms Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. involving this patent. Despite the existence of a seemingly affiliated operating company (Gaea Global Technologies, Inc.) that provides consulting services, there is no evidence that Gaea LLC manufactures or sells data storage devices embodying the claims of US 12,265,715. The timing of the assignment from the inventors to Gaea LLC (executed 2025-02-25, recorded 2025-02-26, Reel 062630/0550) prior to the patent's issuance (2025-04-01) and the subsequent initiation of litigation within a year (first suit filed 2026-03-23) further supports the conclusion that Gaea LLC operates as a Non-Practicing Entity with respect to this patent.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US12265715