Assignment history

Inventors

• Sten-Olov Engberg: Employed by April System Design AB at the time of filing.
• Ake Jonsson: Employed by April System Design AB at the time of filing.

This is inferred from the immediate assignment of the patent from the inventors to April System Design AB on June 19, 2000, shortly after the patent's filing date of March 6, 2000 (Reel 008064/0313).

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is April System Design AB.

April System Design AB was a Swedish IT and security solutions company. Public records indicate the company was registered in Sweden in 1999 and subsequently dissolved in 2002. It is not clear whether they shipped a product directly embodying the specific claims of US6993658, but they were an operating company in the security sector. Their current status is dissolved.

Assignment timeline

• 2000-06-19 (executed) / recorded 2000-06-21 — Reel 008064/0313

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ENGBERG, STEN-OLOV, JONSSON, AKE
  • Assignee: APRIL SYSTEM DESIGN AB
  • Correspondent: BROWDY AND NEIMARK, P.C., 624 9TH STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20001.
  • Context: Original assignment from the inventors to the initial assignee.

• 2011-11-14 (executed) / recorded 2011-11-23 — Reel 026851/0090

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: APRIL SYSTEM DESIGN AB
  • Assignee: DYNAPASS INC.
  • Correspondent: HAHN LOESER & PARKS, LLP, 1225 EYE STREET, N.W., SUITE 600, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005.
  • Context: Transfer from the dissolved original assignee to a new entity, Dynapass Inc.

• 2014-02-21 (executed) / recorded 2014-02-28 — Reel 031448/0647

  • Conveyance: CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: DYNAPASS, INC.
  • Assignee: DYNAPASS, INC.
  • Correspondent: HAHN LOESER & PARKS, LLP, 1225 EYE STREET, N.W., SUITE 600, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005. This correspondent recurred in this chain.
  • Context: Formal update or change of address for Dynapass Inc.

• 2022-01-02 (executed) / recorded 2022-01-13 — Reel 050077/0001

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: DYNAPASS, INC.
  • Assignee: DYNAPASS IP HOLDINGS LLC
  • Correspondent: STEPHEN G. ELGABLY, ESQ., 1700 W. HILLSBORO BLVD., SUITE B200, DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442.
  • Context: Transfer from Dynapass Inc. to Dynapass IP Holdings LLC, indicating a potential shell-entity transfer.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 6993658
    2000 : Filed by April System Design AB
         : Inventors to April System Design AB
    2006 : Patent Issued
    2011 : Assigned to Dynapass Inc
    2014 : Dynapass Inc name update
    2022 : Assigned to Dynapass IP Holdings LLC
    2023 : First IPR filed
    2024 : IPRs issue Final Written Decisions

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The assignment from "DYNAPASS, INC." to "DYNAPASS IP HOLDINGS LLC" on 2022-01-02 / recorded 2022-01-13 (Reel 050077/0001) is a strong indicator. The "IP Holdings" suffix typically signifies a non-operating, licensing-focused entity, and Dynapass IP Holdings LLC has acted as a plaintiff in multiple patent infringement lawsuits.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Dynapass IP Holdings LLC, the current assignee, is identified as the plaintiff in several district court cases (e.g., Dynapass IP Holdings LLC v. Wells Fargo & Co. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2:22-cv-00217; Dynapass IP Holdings, LLC v. Simmons First National Corporation and Simmons Bank, 2:23-cv-00068). Furthermore, Unified Patents, a defensive aggregator, initiated IPRs against Dynapass IP Holdings, LLC, which is a common practice when dealing with NPEs.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. HAHN LOESER & PARKS, LLP served as the correspondent for both the 2011-11-14 assignment to Dynapass Inc. (Reel 026851/0090) and the 2014-02-21 change of name for Dynapass, Inc. (Reel 031448/0647).

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The assignments are spaced over several years (2000, 2011, 2014, 2022), not within a short timeframe.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to DYNAPASS IP HOLDINGS LLC was executed on 2022-01-02 and recorded on 2022-01-13 (Reel 050077/0001). The earliest identified litigation, Dynapass IP Holdings LLC v. Wells Fargo & Co. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Case Number: 2:22-cv-00217), was filed on June 17, 2022. This falls within a six-month window, suggesting the transfer was likely in preparation for the subsequent litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Unclear. While the original assignee, April System Design AB, was dissolved in 2002, the patent transfer to Dynapass Inc. occurred much later in 2011 (Reel 026851/0090). It is possible the dissolution involved asset disposition, but the recorded assignment itself does not explicitly state it was due to bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no direct evidence from the assignment records or available information that April System Design AB transferred the patent to Dynapass IP Holdings LLC to assert against its competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, Dynapass IP Holdings LLC, is an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is strongly supported by the assignment of the patent to "Dynapass IP Holdings LLC" (Reel 050077/0001), an entity whose name, along with its extensive litigation history as plaintiff, clearly indicates a non-practicing entity. Furthermore, this transfer occurred within six months prior to the filing of the first documented infringement lawsuit (2:22-cv-00217), a strong signal of pre-litigation asset arrangement. The recurrence of HAHN LOESER & PARKS, LLP as correspondent (Reel 026851/0090 and Reel 031448/0647) also points to specialized legal counsel often associated with patent assertion entities.

For verification of assignment records, refer to the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/