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.

Assignment history

Inventors

Andrew K. Lang
Donald M. Kosak

The inventors, Andrew K. Lang and Donald M. Kosak, were likely employed by Lycos Inc., the original assignee, at the time the patent application (US10/045,198) was filed on October 22, 2001, or around the priority date of April 4, 1996. The patent text does not provide information regarding their employers or departure dates.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent US6775664B2 is Lycos Inc.

Lycos Inc. was established in 1994 as a search engine and web portal company, offering services like a search engine, web portal, chat service, domain name registration, and email client. The patent, titled "Information filter system and method for integrated content-based and collaborative/adaptive feedback queries," describes a system directly relevant to the core functionality of a search engine and web portal. Therefore, Lycos Inc. shipped products embodying the claims through its internet services.

Lycos Inc. has undergone several changes in ownership. It was acquired by Terra Networks in October 2000, then sold to Daum Communications Corporation in October 2004, and later to Ybrant Digital (now Brightcom Group) in August 2010. As of May 2026, Lycos, Inc. is a subsidiary of Brightcom Group and continues to offer a search engine and web portal, among other digital media services. Recent reports indicate some server outages and the discontinuation of certain hosting services (Tripod and Angelfire) in April 2026.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) for patent number US6775664 yielded no recorded assignments. This means that, according to the official USPTO assignment records for this specific patent number, there are no publicly recorded transfers of ownership since its issuance.