Assignment history

Inventors

• Claudio R. Ballard: The sole inventor. At the time of filing, the patent was assigned to CSP Holdings LLC, a company Ballard controlled. This pattern is common for individual inventors who set up a corporate entity to hold their intellectual property before seeking funding or beginning an assertion campaign.

Original assignee

• CSP Holdings LLC: This was a Delaware limited liability company and appears to have been a holding entity for the inventor, Claudio Ballard. The patent text itself refers to the invention as the "DataTreasury™ System," indicating that the branding and concept were developed in concert with the patent filing. There is no evidence that CSP Holdings LLC ever commercialized or shipped a product embodying the claims. The entity's purpose seems to have been to hold the initial patent, which was later transferred to DataTreasury Corporation, the entity that would go on to enforce it.

Assignment timeline

A chronological list of assignments recorded with the USPTO is provided below.

• 1998-05-19 (executed) / recorded 1998-05-27 — Reel 009226/0833

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Claudio R. Ballard
  • Assignee: CSP Holdings, L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Baker & Botts, LLP, Washington, DC
  • Context: The inventor assigned his invention to his holding company at the time of filing.

• 2002-06-24 (executed) / recorded 2002-07-22 — Reel 012882/0157

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: CSP Holdings, L.L.C.
  • Assignee: DataTreasury Corporation
  • Correspondent: Kenyon & Kenyon, New York, NY
  • Context: The patent was transferred from the inventor's initial holding company to the new corporate entity that would serve as the primary assertion vehicle.

• 2003-08-08 (executed) / recorded 2003-08-11 — Reel 014131/0088

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Interest and Lien Against Enforcement Actions
  • Assignor: Data Treasury Corporation
  • Assignee: Shore Deary, L.L.P
  • Correspondent: Otis W. Carroll, Ireland, Carroll & Kelley, P.C., Amarillo, TX
  • Context: This appears to be a security agreement, likely granting the law firm of Shore Deary a financial interest in the proceeds of any litigation involving the patent, possibly as part of a contingency-fee representation agreement.

• 2003-09-22 (executed) / recorded 2003-09-24 — Reel 014283/0365

  • Conveyance: Disclaimer of Assignment
  • Assignor: Data Treasury Corporation
  • Assignee: Shore Deary, L.L.P.
  • Correspondent: Otis W. Carroll, Ireland, Carroll & Kelley, P.C., Amarillo, TX
  • Context: A formal disclaimer clarifying or possibly terminating the previously recorded security interest. This was followed by a similar recording two days later.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6032137
    1998 : Inventor assigns patent to CSP Holdings LLC
    2000 : Patent issues
    2002 : Assigned to DataTreasury Corporation
    2003 : Security interest granted to Shore Deary LLP
         : First infringement suits filed by DataTreasury
         : Security interest disclaimed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Present. The patent was moved from CSP Holdings LLC, which had no evident products, to DataTreasury Corporation in June 2002. DataTreasury Corporation then commenced a large-scale litigation campaign starting in 2003, making its primary business the assertion of its patent portfolio. (Reel 012882/0157)

2. Known asserter in the chain: Present. DataTreasury Corporation is a widely-known and prolific patent assertion entity. Its litigation campaigns, particularly against the banking industry, are well-documented by industry trackers like Unified Patents.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. The major transfers (inventor to LLC, LLC to corporation) were handled by different major law firms. The security agreement was handled by a third firm. This is not a signal here.

4. Cascading transfers: Not present. The ownership chain is direct from the inventor's entities.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Present. The assignment to DataTreasury Corporation was executed on June 24, 2002 (Reel 012882/0157). The first lawsuits asserting the patent were filed in early 2003, well within the 6-month window and indicating a clear preparation for an assertion campaign.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present.

7. Privateering: Not present. The asserting entity was founded and controlled by the patent's inventor, not a third-party firm acting on behalf of an operating company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The patent has not been acquired by any known defensive entity.

Verdict

• NPE — high confidence

The assignment history of US 6,032,137 shows multiple strong signals of NPE activity. The patent was transferred to DataTreasury Corporation (Reel 012882/0157), a well-known patent assertion entity founded by the inventor, shortly before the commencement of a massive litigation campaign. This pre-litigation transfer to a known asserter, which appears to have been formed for the purpose of monetizing this patent portfolio, provides high confidence in classifying this patent as an NPE-held asset.

Verification Link: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for Pat. No. 6,032,137