Patent 6546397

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (2)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2005-02-23 · recorded 2005-03-02 · reel 016147/0681 · Assignment

    Steven H. RempellAkira Technologies, Inc.

    Correspondent: E. Russell Tarleton, Jr.

    internal reorg

  2. 2012-02-27 · recorded 2012-02-28 · reel 028010/0173 · Assignment

    Akira Technologies, Inc.Express Mobile, Inc.

    transfer-to-asserter

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

The sole inventor listed on US patent 6,546,397 is Steven H. Rempell. At the time of filing, the patent was assigned to Akira Technologies, Inc., which was the original assignee. It is presumed that Mr. Rempell was employed by or otherwise affiliated with Akira Technologies, Inc. No unusual inventor departure patterns are noted.

Original assignee

The original assignee of record is Akira Technologies, Inc., a California corporation. Public information about this entity is scarce, suggesting it was a small or short-lived technology company. It is unclear if Akira Technologies, Inc. ever shipped a commercial product embodying the claims of the patent. The subsequent assignment of the patent to Express Mobile, Inc. in 2012 suggests that Akira Technologies may have ceased operations or divested its intellectual property.

Assignment timeline

  • 2005-02-23 (executed) / recorded 2005-03-02 — Reel 016147/0681
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Steven H. Rempell (Inventor)
    • Assignee: Akira Technologies, Inc.
    • Correspondent: E. Russell Tarleton, Jr., Laguna Beach, CA 92652
    • Context: Formal assignment of the inventor's interest to the original assignee company after the patent had issued.
  • 2012-02-27 (executed) / recorded 2012-02-28 — Reel 028010/0173
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Akira Technologies, Inc.
    • Assignee: Express Mobile, Inc.
    • Correspondent: Express Mobile, Inc., 2441 Holly Lane, Ottawa Hills, OH 43606
    • Context: The original assignee transferred the patent to Express Mobile, Inc., which subsequently engaged in a widespread litigation campaign asserting this and other patents.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6,546,397
    1999 : Application filed
    2003 : Patent issued to Akira Technologies
    2005 : Inventor Rempell assigns to Akira Technologies
    2012 : Assigned to Express Mobile Inc
    2015 : First infringement suits filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present.
    The patent was transferred from its original assignee, Akira Technologies, Inc., to Express Mobile, Inc. (Reel 028010/0173). Express Mobile, Inc. does not appear to be an operating company with products in commerce; its primary activity related to this patent has been prolific litigation, a hallmark of a patent assertion entity (PAE) or non-practicing entity (NPE).

  2. Known asserter in the chain — present.
    The current assignee, Express Mobile, Inc., is a well-documented patent assertion entity. As noted in the patent's own litigation history and tracked by services like Unified Patents, Express Mobile has filed dozens of infringement lawsuits based on this patent against a wide array of companies, beginning circa 2015.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present.
    The two recorded assignments have different correspondents. The first was handled by attorney E. Russell Tarleton, Jr., and the second was handled directly by the assignee, Express Mobile, Inc.

  4. Cascading transfers — not present.
    The two assignments were recorded nearly seven years apart. There is no evidence of rapid, successive transfers.

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present.
    The assignment to Express Mobile, Inc. was recorded on 2012-02-28. The first major wave of litigation began in 2015-2016, well outside the typical 6-month window that defines this signal. However, the transfer was clearly a prelude to the eventual assertion campaign.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — unclear.
    There is no public record indicating that the transfer from Akira Technologies, Inc. was part of a formal bankruptcy proceeding.

  7. Privateering — unclear.
    There is insufficient evidence to determine if Akira Technologies, Inc. retained an interest in the assertion campaign conducted by Express Mobile, Inc.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present.
    The patent is held by a high-volume plaintiff, not a defensive entity.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict is driven by two strong, classic signals of NPE activity. The patent was transferred from the original inventor's company to Express Mobile, Inc. (per Reel 028010/0173), a well-known and prolific patent assertion entity. Following the transfer, Express Mobile launched a widespread litigation campaign lasting for years, which is the defining business model of an NPE.

Verification link: USPTO Assignment Search for Pat. 6,546,397

Generated 5/12/2026, 12:45:45 AM