Assignment history

Inventors

The named inventors for U.S. Patent No. 12,301,627 are Jason Crabtree, Andrew Sellers, and Richard Kelley. At the time of the earliest priority date (October 28, 2015) and the filing date of a direct predecessor application (January 30, 2020), Jason Crabtree was the Co-founder and CEO of Qomplx Inc., and Andrew Sellers was the Co-founder and CTO of Qomplx Inc. While Richard Kelley's specific role is not detailed in the search results, it is highly probable he was also employed by Qomplx Inc., given the common practice of employees assigning their inventions to their employer and the subsequent assignments of the patent. No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing the original assignee shortly after filing, were identified.

Original Assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Qomplx Inc.

Qomplx Inc.'s primary line of business is providing cloud-based risk analytics services, particularly in cybersecurity and insurance. The company ships products embodying the claims, such as its Q:CYBER suite, which includes Q:SCAN for attack surface monitoring and Identity Assurance for Active Directory security. These products leverage capabilities like correlating network event anomalies using active and passive reconnaissance to identify attack information, directly aligning with the patent's claims.

The current status of Qomplx Inc. (now QOMPLX LLC) is active. While some reports in August 2023 indicated potential quiet cessation of operations and layoffs, the company remains active in litigation and its products are listed on platforms like AWS Marketplace as of the current date.

Assignment timeline

The following is a chronological list of recorded assignments for U.S. Patent No. 12,301,627:

• 2024-09-24 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-24 (approx.) - No Reel/Frame on USPTO Assignment Search
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Jason Crabtree, Andrew Sellers, Richard Kelley (Inventors)
  • Assignee: Qomplx Inc.
  • Correspondent: Not specified in publicly available Google Patents data for this initial assignment.
  • Context: Initial assignment from inventors to the original applicant/assignee as part of employment agreements.
• 2024-09-24 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-26 - Reel 060193/0858
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST
  • Assignor: QOMPLX, INC.
  • Assignee: QPX LLC
  • Correspondent: BRENT D. LANDAU, ESQ., 10839 GEORGIA AVENUE, SUITE 101, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND UNITED STATES 20902. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal corporate restructuring/transfer within the Qomplx entity family.
• 2024-09-26 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-28 - Reel 060210/0675
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST
  • Assignor: QPX LLC
  • Assignee: QOMPLX LLC
  • Correspondent: BRENT D. LANDAU, ESQ., 10839 GEORGIA AVENUE, SUITE 101, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND UNITED STATES 20902. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal corporate restructuring, noted by Google Patents as a change of name from QPX LLC to QOMPLX LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12301627
    2024-09-24 : Inventors assign to Qomplx Inc
    2024-09-26 : Qomplx Inc assigns to QPX LLC
    2024-09-28 : QPX LLC assigns to QOMPLX LLC
    2025-05-13 : Patent issued
    2025-08-28 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from Qomplx Inc. to QPX LLC (Reel 060193/0858, recorded 2024-09-26) and then from QPX LLC to QOMPLX LLC (Reel 060210/0675, recorded 2024-09-28) appears to be an internal restructuring, with QPX LLC possibly serving as an intermediate shell entity before the final QOMPLX LLC entity was established or renamed. The use of "LLC" and the rapid transfer between them are indicative, especially considering the litigation mentions QOMPLX LLC as a "successor in interest to Qomplx Inc.".
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the assignees (Qomplx Inc., QPX LLC, QOMPLX LLC) match the provided list of known high-frequency NPE plaintiffs. QOMPLX LLC is actively litigating, but is an operating company (Qomplx Inc.) that has undergone internal restructuring, rather than a recognized NPE aggregator.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. BRENT D. LANDAU, ESQ., located at 10839 GEORGIA AVENUE, SUITE 101, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND UNITED STATES 20902, is listed as the correspondent for both the 2024-09-26 assignment (Reel 060193/0858) and the 2024-09-28 assignment (Reel 060210/0675).
4. Cascading transfers — Present. There are two consecutive assignments within a four-day period: Qomplx Inc. to QPX LLC (executed 2024-09-24, recorded 2024-09-26) and QPX LLC to QOMPLX LLC (executed 2024-09-26, recorded 2024-09-28). Both transfers were handled by the same correspondent attorney and represent a rapid series of transfers.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The last recorded assignment to QOMPLX LLC occurred on September 28, 2024 (recorded date, executed on September 26, 2024). The first infringement suit against Microsoft Corporation (Case No. 1:25-cv-01383) was filed on August 28, 2025. The transfer to QOMPLX LLC happened less than one year, but more than 6 months, before the litigation was filed. However, the patent was not issued until May 13, 2025. This means the final ownership structure was in place before the patent issued and well before litigation, indicating the transfers were for internal reorganization prior to enablement of assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the patent information or search results that Qomplx Inc. or QOMPLX LLC underwent bankruptcy proceedings leading to the sale of this patent.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While QOMPLX LLC is an operating company asserting against competitors, the rapid internal restructuring through QPX LLC and QOMPLX LLC, combined with the immediately preceding patent issuance and subsequent litigation, could hypothetically facilitate such a strategy. However, there is no direct evidence to confirm privateering.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with QOMPLX LLC, which is actively asserting the patent, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.
The patent's ownership chain shows internal corporate restructuring from Qomplx Inc. to QPX LLC (Reel 060193/0858, recorded 2024-09-26) and then to QOMPLX LLC (Reel 060210/0675, recorded 2024-09-28). Despite the rapid transfers and repeat correspondent, QOMPLX LLC is the successor in interest to an operating company that develops and markets products embodying the claims, and it is suing direct competitors (Microsoft and Palo Alto Networks) in the cybersecurity space. The transfers appear to be internal reorganizations in anticipation of patent assertion and business operations rather than a divestment to a pure licensing entity.

For verification, see the USPTO Patent Assignment Search results for patent 12301627 at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ by searching for "12301627".