Assignment history

Inventors

• Nathan Pyles: The sole inventor listed. The original assignee is listed as "Individual," suggesting Pyles filed the patent application personally rather than on behalf of an employer. There are no unusual patterns, such as multiple inventors departing an original assignee, as the patent appears to have been owned by the inventor for the first 12 years of its life.

Original Assignee

The original assignee was the inventor, Nathan Pyles. The patent was granted in 2002 and there are no recorded assignments until 2014. It is unclear whether the inventor ever developed or sold a product that embodied the patent's claims. For the first 12 years post-issuance, the patent was held by its creator before being sold into a chain of transactions that ultimately led to an assertion campaign.

Assignment Timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database reveals a chain of five recorded conveyances for US Patent 6,434,212.

• 2014-08-14 (executed) / recorded 2014-09-23 — Reel 033797/0268

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Pyles, Nathan
  • Assignee: Knowmo, LLC d/b/a Knowledge-In-Motion (Wisconsin LLC)
  • Correspondent: Matthew J. Rizzolo, Rizzolo & Rizzolo, P.C., 401 Route 70 East, Suite 205, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
  • Context: The inventor sells the patent to a corporate entity 12 years after issuance.

• 2014-08-19 (executed) / recorded 2014-09-23 — Reel 033797/0513

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Knowmo, LLC d/b/a Knowledge-In-Motion
  • Assignee: Direction Technology Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
  • Correspondent: Matthew J. Rizzolo, Rizzolo & Rizzolo, P.C., 401 Route 70 East, Suite 205, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. This is the same correspondent as the preceding transfer.
  • Context: A rapid transfer, executed just five days after the first, moving the patent from a US LLC to a foreign corporation.

• 2015-01-05 (executed) / recorded 2015-01-05 — Reel 034720/0681

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Direction Technology Co., Ltd.
  • Assignee: Blackbird Tech LLC (Massachusetts LLC)
  • Correspondent: Wendy M. Hopkins, Navins & Hopkins LLC, 45 School Street, Boston, MA 02108
  • Context: Transfer to a known patent assertion entity, positioning the patent for litigation.

• 2015-11-06 (executed) / recorded 2015-11-10 — Reel 037004/0544

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: Blackbird Tech LLC
  • Assignee: Security Finance LLC (Delaware LLC)
  • Correspondent: Steven C. Geoffrey, Blackbird Tech LLC, 20 Custom House Street, Boston, MA 02110
  • Context: Securitization, in which the patent owner (Blackbird Tech) uses the patent as collateral for financing, likely to fund its assertion activities.

• 2021-03-05 (executed) / recorded 2021-05-07 — Reel 056176/0229

  • Conveyance: Partial Release of Security Interest
  • Assignor: Security Finance LLC
  • Assignee: Blackbird Tech LLC
  • Correspondent: Steven Geoffrey, Blackbird Technologies, 20 Custom House St., Suite 820, Boston, MA 02110
  • Context: Release of the lender's security interest, returning full rights to the patent owner after the litigation campaign had concluded and the patent had expired.

Timeline Diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6434212
    2001 : Filed by Nathan Pyles
    2002 : Issued to Nathan Pyles
    2014 : Aug: Assigned to Knowmo LLC
         : Aug: Assigned to Direction Technology
    2015 : Jan: Acquired by Blackbird Tech LLC
         : Nov: Used as collateral for financing
    2016 : Aug: First infringement suits filed
    2018 : Oct: Patent expires
    2021 : Mar: Security interest released

NPE / Troll-Pattern Signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Present. The transfer from the inventor to Knowmo, LLC and then Direction Technology, culminating in the transfer to Blackbird Tech LLC (Reel 034720/0681 on 2015-01-05) represents a clear move from the patent's originator to entities whose primary purpose is holding and asserting patents.

2. Known asserter in the chain: Present. The assignee Blackbird Tech LLC (Reel 034720/0681) is a widely recognized patent assertion entity (NPE). This is confirmed by public records from RPX and Unified Patents, as well as the litigation history of this specific patent.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Present. Matthew J. Rizzolo is the correspondent for the first two transfers in the chain (Reel 033797/0268 and 033797/0513), indicating these steps were likely managed as part of a single, larger transaction. Subsequently, correspondents associated directly with Blackbird Tech LLC handle their recordings.

4. Cascading transfers: Present. The patent was transferred three times in just over four months: from Pyles to Knowmo (2014-08-14), from Knowmo to Direction Technology (2014-08-19), and from Direction Technology to Blackbird Tech (2015-01-05). This rapid, multi-step transfer is characteristic of preparing a patent for an assertion campaign.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Present. The final assignment to the asserting entity, Blackbird Tech LLC, was executed on 2015-01-05 (Reel 034720/0681). The first infringement lawsuits were filed approximately 19 months later, on August 4, 2016. The acquisition by a known NPE was a clear predicate to the litigation campaign.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. There is no evidence that any transfer was the result of a bankruptcy proceeding.

7. Privateering: Not present. The patent was acquired from its individual inventor, not an operating company seeking to monetize its portfolio through a third-party asserter.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The chain terminates with a well-known assertion entity, not a defensive organization.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment history provides multiple, strong signals of a classic NPE assertion model. The patent was acquired from its inventor and moved through a rapid cascade of transfers (Reel 033797/0268, 033797/0513) to a known patent assertion entity, Blackbird Tech LLC (Reel 034720/0681). This was followed by a broad litigation campaign against multiple technology companies, confirming the monetization intent.

Verification of the assignment records is available at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search page by searching for patent number 6434212.