Assignment history

Inventors

• Harutaka Eguchi (Fujitsu Ltd)

Original assignee

Fujitsu Ltd is the original assignee. Fujitsu's primary line of business is information and communication technology (ICT) services, including IT products, solutions, and services. They shipped products embodying image processing technologies. Fujitsu Ltd is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2000-12-14 (executed) / recorded 2000-12-18 — Reel 011910/0173

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: EGUCHI, HARUTAKA
  • Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
  • Correspondent: BEYER WEAVER & THOMAS, LLP, P.O. BOX 778, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, 94704-0778
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to original assignee.

• 2011-06-07 (executed) / recorded 2011-06-15 — Reel 026725/0644

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: FUJITSU LIMITED
  • Assignee: LD TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Correspondent: FISH & RICHARDSON P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, 55440-1022
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights.

• 2019-01-23 (executed) / recorded 2019-01-23 — Reel 048113/0031

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: LD TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES 94 LLC
  • Correspondent: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES, 2711 LBJ FREEWAY, SUITE 700, DALLAS, TEXAS, 75234
  • Context: Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment. This correspondent appears on other tracked patents related to Intellectual Ventures.

• 2019-01-25 (executed) / recorded 2019-01-25 — Reel 048119/0001

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: LD TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 94 LLC
  • Correspondent: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES, 2711 LBJ FREEWAY, SUITE 700, DALLAS, TEXAS, 75234
  • Context: Corrective assignment to correct receiving party data. This correspondent appears on other tracked patents related to Intellectual Ventures.

• 2019-03-08 (executed) / recorded 2019-03-11 — Reel 048384/0831

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 94 LLC
  • Assignee: STEEPHILL TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP, 30 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10112-0015
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights.

• 2019-05-10 (executed) / recorded 2019-05-13 — Reel 048744/0488

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: STEEPHILL TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Assignee: CEDAR LANE TECHNOLOGIES INC.
  • Correspondent: SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP, 30 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10112-0015
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights. This correspondent appears on other tracked patents.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6972774
    2000 : Inventor to Fujitsu Ltd
    2005 : Issued
    2011 : Assigned to LD Technologies LLC
    2019 : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures 94 LLC
         : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures Assets 94 LLC
         : Assigned to Steephill Technologies LLC
         : Assigned to Cedar Lane Technologies Inc.

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present.

   • LD Technologies, LLC (assignee on 2011-06-15, Reel 026725/0644), Intellectual Ventures 94 LLC (assignee on 2019-01-23, Reel 048113/0031), Intellectual Ventures Assets 94 LLC (assignee on 2019-01-25, Reel 048119/0001), Steephill Technologies LLC (assignee on 2019-03-11, Reel 048384/0831), and Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. (assignee on 2019-05-13, Reel 048744/0488) are all entities commonly associated with patent licensing and assertion rather than product development. The address for Intellectual Ventures (2711 LBJ FREEWAY, SUITE 700, DALLAS, TEXAS, 75234) is consistent with a registered-agent service.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present.

   • Intellectual Ventures 94 LLC and Intellectual Ventures Assets 94 LLC appear in the chain (assigned on 2019-01-23, Reel 048113/0031 and 2019-01-25, Reel 048119/0001 respectively), which is a well-known patent licensing and assertion company.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present.

   • INTELLECTUAL VENTURES (2711 LBJ FREEWAY, SUITE 700, DALLAS, TEXAS, 75234) appears as the correspondent for both the 2019-01-23 (Reel 048113/0031) and 2019-01-25 (Reel 048119/0001) assignments to Intellectual Ventures entities.
   • SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP (30 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10112-0015) appears as the correspondent for the 2019-03-11 (Reel 048384/0831) and 2019-05-13 (Reel 048744/0488) assignments to Steephill Technologies LLC and Cedar Lane Technologies Inc., respectively.

4. Cascading transfers — present.

   • There were four consecutive assignments in a period of less than six months in 2019: to Intellectual Ventures 94 LLC (2019-01-23), Intellectual Ventures Assets 94 LLC (2019-01-25), Steephill Technologies LLC (2019-03-08), and Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. (2019-05-10). These transfers involve different LLCs and shared correspondents for some transactions, which is a strong indicator of cascading transfers.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present.

   • The patent was assigned to Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. on 2019-05-10 (recorded 2019-05-13, Reel 048744/0488). Google Patents indicates multiple litigations filed in 2019, including cases filed in California Northern District Court (3:19-cv-03925) and Illinois Northern District Court (1:19-cv-03808). This timing suggests the transfer was made shortly before litigation commenced.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present.

   • There is no indication that Fujitsu Ltd, the original assignee, filed for bankruptcy and sold its patents.

7. Privateering — unclear.

   • While Fujitsu Ltd transferred the patent to an NPE, there is no direct evidence in the provided data to confirm an arrangement where the NPE is asserting on Fujitsu's behalf against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present.

   • The current assignee, Cedar Lane Technologies Inc., is not a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment chain for US6972774 exhibits multiple strong signals of NPE assertion, including transfers to known asserter Intellectual Ventures (Reel 048113/0031, Reel 048119/0001), cascading transfers between shell entities in early 2019, and assignments occurring within months of the patent being asserted in district court litigation. The use of repeat correspondents (Intellectual Ventures, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP) further strengthens this conclusion.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 6972774)