Assignment history

Inventors

Based on the patent documentation, the inventors were all likely employees of the original assignee, Sony Corporation, at the time of the 1996 filing.

• Akimasa Oyama

• Hidekazu Watanabe

• Masahiro Asai

• Kazunori Ozawa

• Nobuhiro Tone

There are no unusual patterns, such as mass departures from the assignee, noted in the record.

Original assignee

The original assignee of the patent was Sony Corp. Sony is a major multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, when this patent was filed and issued, Sony was a global leader in consumer electronics, entertainment, and communication products. While it is unclear if they shipped a specific product that perfectly embodies every limitation of the claims, the invention relates directly to internet telephony, a field in which Sony was an active participant through its computer and electronics divisions. Sony remains a major operating company today.

Assignment timeline

The ownership of this patent has been transferred four times since its filing, moving from the original inventors to the operating company, and subsequently through a series of non-practicing entities.

• 1997-02-21 (executed) / recorded 1997-03-31 — Reel 008459/0764

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Akimasa Oyama, Hidekazu Watanabe, Masahiro Asai, Kazunori Ozawa, Nobuhiro Tone
  • Assignee: Sony Corporation
  • Correspondent: Peter D. Kendall, Oblon Spivak McClelland Maier & Neustadt PC, Arlington, VA
  • Context: Standard initial assignment from inventors to their employer.

• 2010-01-08 (executed) / recorded 2010-01-21 — Reel 023828/0473

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Sony Corporation
  • Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Inc.
  • Correspondent: David L. Barnhill, Sony Corporation of America, New York, NY
  • Context: Internal transfer from the parent operating company to a holding company, often as a prelude to a sale of IP assets.

• 2010-01-11 (executed) / recorded 2010-01-21 — Reel 023828/0504

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: SCA IPLA Holdings Inc.
  • Assignee: Mobilemedia Ideas LLC
  • Correspondent: Mobilemedia Ideas LLC, Chevy Chase, MD
  • Context: Transfer to a known patent assertion entity just three days after the previous internal transfer, signaling a sale for monetization.

• 2017-03-27 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-28 — Reel 042107/0440

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Mobilemedia Ideas LLC
  • Assignee: Ironworks Patents LLC
  • Correspondent: Ironworks Patents LLC, Chicago, IL
  • Context: Transfer from one patent assertion entity to another, occurring after the patent had already expired.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6108329
    1996 : Filed by Sony inventors
    1997 : Assigned to Sony Corporation
    2000 : Patent Issued
    2010 : Assigned to SCA IPLA Holdings
         : Assigned to Mobilemedia Ideas LLC
    2016 : Patent Expired
    2017 : Assigned to Ironworks Patents LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was moved from an operating company (Sony) to a series of LLCs with names indicating a focus on intellectual property and no evidence of shipping products. The initial transfer to SCA IPLA Holdings followed immediately by a transfer to Mobilemedia Ideas LLC is a clear signal (Reels 023828/0473 & 023828/0504). The final transfer to Ironworks Patents LLC continues this pattern (Reel 042107/0440).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Both Mobilemedia Ideas LLC and the current assignee, Ironworks Patents LLC, are widely recognized as patent assertion entities (NPEs). Public sources from RPX and Unified Patents confirm their history of patent monetization and litigation.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. The correspondent of record changes with each distinct phase of ownership (inventor assignment, Sony internal transfer, transfer to Mobilemedia, transfer to Ironworks). No single attorney or firm appears on multiple, unrelated transfers in this chain.

4. Cascading transfers — Present. The assignment from Sony to SCA IPLA Holdings Inc. was executed on January 8, 2010, and the subsequent assignment from SCA IPLA to Mobilemedia Ideas LLC was executed just three days later on January 11, 2010. Both were recorded on the same day, January 21, 2010 (Reels 023828/0473 & 023828/0504), which is a classic indicator of a structured, rapid transfer to a monetization entity.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While the transfers to known asserters strongly suggest an intent to monetize, which often involves litigation, the previous litigation summary indicates no lawsuits have been filed asserting this specific patent. Therefore, a transfer preceding litigation cannot be confirmed.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Sony has not undergone bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Unclear. Mobilemedia Ideas LLC was a joint venture that included Sony as a founding member. This structure is sometimes used for privateering, where an operating company outsources patent assertion against its competitors. However, without evidence of this patent being used in litigation against a Sony competitor, this cannot be confirmed.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain of title ends with Ironworks Patents LLC, a known assertion entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The ownership history of US Patent 6,108,329 shows multiple, strong signals of non-practicing entity activity. The patent was transferred from its original operating company assignee, Sony, through a rapid, cascading series of assignments to two well-known patent assertion entities, Mobilemedia Ideas LLC and Ironworks Patents LLC (Reels 023828/0473, 023828/0504, and 042107/0440). This clear pattern of transferring an asset from a product-shipping company to entities whose business model is patent monetization confirms its status as an NPE-held patent.

Verification Link: USPTO Assignment Search for Pat. 6,108,329