Assignment history

Inventors

• Thien Nguyen: Co-Founder & CEO of DryShield (at time of priority date 2012-12-07). DryShield was acquired by Solmetex on April 11, 2022.
• Tam Thanh Pham: At time of priority date (2012-12-07), Tam Thanh Pham was a patent attorney, specializing in intellectual property strategies, patent prosecution, and patent litigation. Her firm, Polsinelli, represents various companies and inventors.

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the patent is Solmetex LLC. Solmetex LLC is a leading provider of dental water safety and waste compliance systems, including amalgam separators, waterline safety solutions, dental isolation technology (acquired through DryShield), and regenerative biomaterials (acquired through Impladent). They ship products embodying the claims, specifically the DryShield Isolation System, which combines a high-suction evacuator, bite block, tongue shield, and oral pathway protector. Solmetex LLC is an active, privately held company.

Assignment timeline

• 2024-09-10 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-10 - Reel 073038/0074
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: PHAM, TAM THANH; NGUYEN, THIEN
  • Assignee: INCEPT, INC.
  • Correspondent: POLSINELLI PC, 1000 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, SUITE 1900, LOS ANGELES, CA 90017
  • Context: Individual inventors assigned their interest to Incept, Inc.
• 2024-09-10 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-10 - Reel 073038/0075
  • Conveyance: CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: INCEPT, INC.
  • Assignee: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Correspondent: POLSINELLI PC, 1000 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, SUITE 1900, LOS ANGELES, CA 90017. This correspondent also appears on the immediately preceding entry.
  • Context: Change of assignee name from Incept, Inc. to Dryshield, LLC.
• 2024-09-10 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-10 - Reel 073038/0076
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC
  • Assignee: SOLMETEX LLC
  • Correspondent: POLSINELLI PC, 1000 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, SUITE 1900, LOS ANGELES, CA 90017. This correspondent also appears on the immediately preceding entries.
  • Context: Dryshield, LLC assigned interest to Solmetex LLC. This reflects the acquisition of DryShield by Solmetex that occurred in April 2022.
• 2025-03-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-03-18 - Reel 073280/0199
  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: DRYSHIELD, LLC, IMPLADENT, LTD., SOLMETEX, LLC, STERISIL, INC.
  • Assignee: CHURCHILL AGENCY SERVICES LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
  • Correspondent: MORSE, BARNES-BROWN & ROSE, P.C., CITYPOINT, 230 THIRD AVENUE, 4TH FLOOR, WALTHAM, MA 02451
  • Context: Security interest granted by Solmetex LLC and its subsidiaries (Dryshield, Impladent, Sterisil) to Churchill Agency Services LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12290418
    2012 : Priority date
    2024 : Inventors assign to Incept Inc
         : Incept Inc changes name to Dryshield LLC
         : Dryshield LLC assigns to Solmetex LLC
    2025 : Security interest granted to Churchill Agency Services LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Incept, Inc. and Dryshield, LLC could potentially be shell entities, Incept is described as a medical technology accelerator and Dryshield LLC manufactures dental care products. There isn't enough information to definitively label them as licensing-only shell entities based solely on these assignments.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Incept, Inc., Dryshield, LLC, Solmetex LLC, or Churchill Agency Services LLC) are publicly listed as known patent asserters.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. POLSINELLI PC appears as the correspondent on three consecutive assignments on 2024-09-10 (Reels 073038/0074, 073038/0075, and 073038/0076).
4. Cascading transfers — present. There are three consecutive assignments recorded on the same day, 2024-09-10, involving the individual inventors, Incept, Inc., Dryshield, LLC, and Solmetex LLC. This indicates a rapid chain of transfers.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. No litigation has been identified for this patent.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy for any of the entities in the assignment chain.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information to suggest privateering.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. None of the assignees are defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The chain of ownership primarily reflects a corporate acquisition, with DryShield, LLC (which developed the intraoral device) being acquired by Solmetex LLC, an operating company that manufactures and sells dental products. The multiple transfers on 2024-09-10 appear to be part of formalizing this acquisition and a name change of the acquired entity for IP purposes, rather than a pattern of moving patents to shell entities for assertion. The security interest granted to Churchill Agency Services LLC is also a typical financial transaction for an operating company. (USPTO Assignment Center search for US12290418B2: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/).