Assignment history

Inventors

• Ethendranath N. Bommaiah (Lucent Technologies Inc)
• Katherine H. Guo (Lucent Technologies Inc)
• Sanjoy Paul (Lucent Technologies Inc)
• Markus A. Hofmann (Lucent Technologies Inc)

No unusual patterns noted; all inventors were employed by the original assignee, Lucent Technologies Inc, at the time of filing.

Original assignee

Lucent Technologies Inc. was a telecommunications equipment company. It shipped a wide range of products embodying various claims of its extensive patent portfolio, including networking and communication technologies. Lucent Technologies Inc. was acquired by Alcatel in 2006, forming Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent was subsequently acquired by Nokia in 2016.

Assignment timeline

• 2000-08-24 (executed) / recorded 2000-08-24 — Reel 011326/0898

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Sanjoy Paul, Ethendranath N. Bommaiah, Katherine H. Guo, Markus Hofmann
  • Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Lucent Technologies Inc. Address as recorded: 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636.
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to employer.

• 2014-01-17 (executed) / recorded 2014-01-31 — Reel 031313/0289

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Alcatel Lucent
  • Assignee: Sound View Innovations, LLC
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey M. Green, K&L Gates LLP, 1601 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006-1600.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter.

• 2014-03-27 (executed) / recorded 2014-04-01 — Reel 031649/0970

  • Conveyance: Release of Security Interest
  • Assignor: Credit Suisse AG
  • Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
  • Correspondent: Jennifer L. Chung, Credit Suisse, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
  • Context: Release of security interest from a financial institution.

• 2016-07-27 (executed) / recorded 2016-08-04 — Reel 037920/0034

  • Conveyance: Merger
  • Assignor: Lucent Technologies, Inc.
  • Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
  • Correspondent: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc. Address as recorded: 600-700 Mountain Avenue, Room 2B-226, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
  • Context: Internal corporate merger.

• 2016-07-29 (executed) / recorded 2016-08-04 — Reel 037920/0036

  • Conveyance: Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment
  • Assignor: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
  • Assignee: Alcatel Lucent
  • Correspondent: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc. Address as recorded: 600-700 Mountain Avenue, Room 2B-226, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
  • Context: Corrective assignment related to corporate structure.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6708213
    2000 : Assigned to Lucent Technologies Inc
    2014 : Assigned to Sound View Innovations LLC
         : Release of security interest
    2016 : Lucent merged into Alcatel-Lucent USA
         : Alcatel-Lucent USA assigned to Alcatel Lucent

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. In 2014, the patent was assigned from Alcatel Lucent (an operating company) to Sound View Innovations, LLC (Reel 031313/0289). Sound View Innovations, LLC is identified as an NPE by Unified Patents.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Sound View Innovations, LLC is listed as a known NPE by Unified Patents.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Different correspondents are listed for the inventor assignment, the transfer to Sound View Innovations, LLC, and the subsequent corporate actions. Jeffrey M. Green from K&L Gates LLP recorded the assignment to Sound View Innovations, LLC (Reel 031313/0289). While K&L Gates LLP is a large firm, there isn't recurrence of this specific correspondent in this chain, nor is there enough information to definitively identify them as a repeat-player for a given NPE family without further data beyond this patent.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. The transfers after the initial inventor assignment occur several years apart, not within a rapid timeframe typically associated with cascading transfers.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. Google Patents indicates litigation involving this patent began in Delaware District Court with cases 1:19-cv-00193 and 1:19-cv-00194, filed in 2019. The transfer to Sound View Innovations, LLC occurred on January 17, 2014 (Reel 031313/0289), more than 6 months prior to the listed litigation dates. However, the first worldwide family litigation was also filed in 2017. There are also cases filed in California Central District Court in 2017, and Colorado District Court in 2019. The transfer to Sound View Innovations, LLC significantly predates the identified litigation. However, given that Sound View Innovations, LLC is a known NPE, the 2014 transfer is strongly indicative of an intent to assert.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Lucent Technologies Inc. was acquired by Alcatel, not subject to bankruptcy proceedings leading to a patent fire-sale.
7. Privateering — unclear. While the patent was transferred from an operating company (Alcatel Lucent) to a known NPE (Sound View Innovations, LLC), there is no public SEC filing or reporting here to definitively state that Alcatel Lucent engaged Sound View Innovations, LLC to assert on its behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not end at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on two strong signals: the transfer of the patent from an operating company (Alcatel Lucent) to a known shell entity (Sound View Innovations, LLC) in 2014 (Reel 031313/0289), which is identified as an NPE by Unified Patents. This type of transfer to a known assertion entity is a clear indicator of NPE activity, even if the timing doesn't strictly meet the "pre-litigation transfer" window for the earliest listed litigation on Google Patents.

USPTO Assignment Center search page for verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/