Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor for US patent 5758328 is Joseph Giovannoli. At the time of filing, the original assignee was listed as an individual, implying Joseph Giovannoli was the original owner of the patent. There are no unusual patterns, such as a mass departure of inventors from an original assignee, observed.

Original assignee

The entity named as the original assignee on the issued patent was "Individual," referring to the inventor, Joseph Giovannoli. It is generally understood that an individual inventor does not typically ship products embodying the claims in the same manner as a commercial operating company. The patent describes a "computerized quotation system and method."

The original assignee, Joseph Giovannoli, subsequently assigned the patent to SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC. Therefore, the individual is no longer the assignee.

Assignment timeline

• 2004-09-08 (executed) / recorded 2004-09-13 — Reel 012228/0879
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: GIOVANNOLI, JOSEPH L
  • Assignee: SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. SUTTER, ESQ., CAESAR, RIVISE, BERNSTEIN, COHEN & RAPPAPORT, LTD., 1635 MARKET STREET, 11TH FLOOR, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, 19103-2212.
  • Context: Transfer to a patent assertion entity (NPE).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 5758328
    1996 : Filed by Joseph Giovannoli
    1998 : Issued
    2004 : Assigned to Source Search Tech LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: present. The patent was assigned from individual inventor Joseph L. Giovannoli to SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Reel 012228/0879). SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC is widely recognized as a patent assertion entity (NPE) by organizations such as Unified Patents and RPX, indicating it operates as a licensing-only entity rather than shipping products.
2. Known asserter in the chain: present. SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, the current assignee, is explicitly identified as a Patent Assertion Entity (NPE) by Unified Patents and RPX.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: not present. Only one assignment for this patent is recorded (Reel 012228/0879), therefore, no recurrence of a correspondent can be observed within this specific chain.
4. Cascading transfers: not present. Only one assignment is recorded for this patent, thus no cascading transfers are evident.
5. Pre-litigation transfer: present. The assignment to SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC was executed on 2004-09-08 and recorded on 2004-09-13 (Reel 012228/0879). The litigation summary indicates that the first US case (2:04-cv-04420) was filed in New York Southern District Court in 2004, suggesting the assignment occurred immediately prior to or concurrently with the initiation of litigation.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: not present. There is no evidence within the patent information or assignment records to suggest a transfer due to bankruptcy proceedings of the original inventor or any subsequent assignee.
7. Privateering: unclear. While SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC is an NPE, there is no explicit information to determine if it is asserting the patent on behalf of an operating company against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): not present. The patent's ownership chain terminates with SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, which is identified as an NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The patent was assigned from the individual inventor to SOURCE SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Reel 012228/0879, recorded 2004-09-13), an entity explicitly identified as a Patent Assertion Entity (NPE) by industry watchdogs like Unified Patents and RPX. This transfer immediately preceded the filing of the first infringement suit against LendingTree, Inc. in 2004 (case 2:04-cv-04420), indicating a clear pattern of patent assertion.
USPTO Assignment Center search for US5758328