Assignment history

Inventors

Based on the initial assignment document recorded with the USPTO, all five inventors were residents of San Diego County, California, at the time of the invention and assigned their interest to their employer.

• Edmund Colby Munger
• Douglas Charles Schmidt
• Robert Dunham Short, III
• Victor Larson
• Michael Williamson

The inventors assigned their rights to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), their employer at the time. There are no indications of unusual departure patterns from SAIC following the patent filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee of record is Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), based in San Diego, CA. SAIC is a large, publicly-traded operating company primarily involved in government services and information technology contracting for the U.S. Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and federal civilian agencies. It is not known to have shipped a commercial, off-the-shelf product embodying the claims of the '135 patent; rather, the technology was likely developed in the context of its government contract work related to secure communications. SAIC continues to be a major operating company today.

Assignment timeline

• 2000-02-15 (executed) / recorded 2000-02-23 — Reel 010667/0279

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Edmund Colby Munger, Douglas Charles Schmidt, Robert Dunham Short, III, Victor Larson, Michael Williamson
  • Assignee: Science Applications International Corporation
  • Correspondent: George T. Marcou, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, 1001 W. Fourth Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
  • Context: Standard pre-issuance assignment of invention rights from employees to their employer.

• 2006-05-25 (executed) / recorded 2007-01-10 — Reel 018671/0212

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Science Applications International Corporation
  • Assignee: VirnetX Inc.
  • Correspondent: Scott A. Hodes, Esq., 901 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001
  • Context: Transfer of the patent from the original operating company to an entity focused on patent licensing and enforcement.

• N/A (executed) / recorded 2012-01-19 — Reel 027663/0586

  • Conveyance: Change of Address of Assignee
  • Assignor: N/A
  • Assignee: VirnetX Inc.
  • Correspondent: Legal Department, Virnetx, Inc., 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, CA 95066
  • Context: Administrative record update; no change in ownership.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6502135
    2000 : Filed by inventors
         : Assigned to SAIC
    2002 : Patent issued
    2006 : Assigned to VirnetX Inc
    2007 : First infringement suit filed
    2010 : Verdict against Microsoft
    2012 : Suit filed against Apple
    2017 : Key claims invalidated by PTAB
    2023 : PTAB invalidation affirmed by CAFC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Present. The patent was transferred from SAIC, a large operating company, to VirnetX Inc. (Reel 018671/0212). While VirnetX is a publicly-traded company, its business model, as demonstrated by its extensive litigation history and SEC filings, is centered on patent licensing and enforcement rather than producing and selling products that embody its patent claims. This is a transfer from an operating company to a licensing-focused entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain: Present. VirnetX Inc., the current assignee (Reel 018671/0212), is a widely recognized patent assertion entity (NPE). As detailed in the litigation summary and confirmed by industry trackers like Unified Patents and RPX, VirnetX has engaged in numerous high-stakes, high-volume patent infringement lawsuits against major technology companies.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. The correspondent on the critical transfer from SAIC to VirnetX (Scott A. Hodes) is different from the correspondent on the initial inventor assignment (George T. Marcou). While not a positive signal here, this is not unusual, as different entities use their own preferred counsel.

4. Cascading transfers: Not present. The record shows a direct, single transfer from the original assignee (SAIC) to the asserting entity (VirnetX). There is no evidence of the patent being moved through a series of intermediary LLCs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Present. The assignment from SAIC to VirnetX was executed on 2006-05-25 and recorded on 2007-01-10 (Reel 018671/0212). The first major litigation campaign began shortly after, with VirnetX filing suit against Microsoft in February 2007. The transfer was clearly made to position VirnetX to assert the patent.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. The assignor, SAIC, was and remains a financially solvent operating company.

7. Privateering: Present. This transfer has strong indicators of "privateering," a scenario where an operating company sells patents to an NPE to assert against its competitors without taking on the direct reputational or financial risk of litigation itself. VirnetX was founded by former SAIC employees, and SAIC reportedly retained a financial interest in the licensing revenue generated by VirnetX. This arrangement allowed SAIC's technology to be enforced by a third party.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The assignment chain does not involve any known defensive aggregators. The patent has been used for assertive, not defensive, purposes.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment history provides clear and compelling evidence of a transfer to a non-practicing entity for the purpose of assertion. The patent was moved from its original developer, operating company SAIC, to VirnetX Inc., a well-known and prolific patent asserter (Reel 018671/0212). This transfer occurred shortly before the first major infringement suit was filed, and the relationship between SAIC and VirnetX strongly suggests a "privateering" strategy. The combination of a known asserter, a pre-litigation transfer, and privateering signals provides high confidence for this verdict.

Verification link: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for Pat. No. 6,502,135