Assignment history

Inventors

• Alain Delpuch (OpenTV Inc.)
• James Whitledge (OpenTV Inc.)
• Jean-Rene Menand (OpenTV Inc.)
• Emmanuel Barbier (OpenTV Inc.)
• Kevin Hausman (OpenTV Inc.)
• Debra Hensgen (OpenTV Inc.)
• Dongmin Su (OpenTV Inc.)

All inventors were employed by OpenTV Inc. at the time of filing, as indicated by the original assignee.

Original assignee

OpenTV Inc.
OpenTV Inc. was a global software technology company for interactive and digital television, providing operating middleware, content applications, content creation tools, and professional support services. Their products included OpenTV Core middleware, OpenTV Gateway, OpenTV Streamer, and OpenTV Publisher, which enabled interactive TV services like electronic program guides, video-on-demand, and interactive advertising. Their middleware was deployed in millions of digital set-top boxes and TVs worldwide.

OpenTV Inc. was acquired by the Kudelski Group in stages, with Kudelski gaining a controlling interest in October 2006 and completing the full acquisition by March 2010, at which point OpenTV was delisted from NASDAQ and became a fully owned subsidiary of the Kudelski Group. In October 2014, Imagine Communications acquired OpenTV's advanced advertising business unit from the Kudelski Group. OpenTV is now a software platform product line within Nagra Digital Television Products & Services, an offering of the Kudelski Group.

Assignment timeline

• 2003-09-22 (executed) / recorded 2003-09-22 — Reel 014605/0284
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: MENAND, JEAN-RENE; HENSGEN, DEBRA; HAUSMAN, KEVIN; WHITLEDGE, JAMES; BARBIER, EMMANUEL; DELPUCH, ALAIN
  • Assignee: OPENTV, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN, L.L.P., 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD., 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to the initial assignee.
• 2006-05-04 (executed) / recorded 2006-05-18 — Reel 017770/0651
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: OPENTV, INC.
  • Assignee: OPENTV, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN, L.L.P., 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD., 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025. This correspondent recurs.
  • Context: Internal reorganization or confirmatory assignment.
• 2014-07-28 (executed) / recorded 2014-08-14 — Reel 032220/0074
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: OPENTV, INC.
  • Assignee: NAGRASTAR LLC
  • Correspondent: Mark J. Hebert, HEBERT & MAIRS LLP, 1600 EXECUTIVE DR, SUITE 210, FORT COLLINS, CO 80526
  • Context: Transfer within the Kudelski Group, which acquired OpenTV Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7055169
    2003 : Inventors assign to OpenTV Inc
    2006 : OpenTV Inc internal assignment
    2006 : Patent issued
    2014 : OpenTV Inc assigns to Nagrastar LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Nagrastar LLC's name does not explicitly suggest a licensing-only entity, and it is part of the Kudelski Group (an operating company), the specific business activities of Nagrastar LLC itself are not detailed enough to definitively say it ships products embodying these claims. The transfer from OpenTV Inc. to Nagrastar LLC occurred after OpenTV was fully acquired by Kudelski, suggesting an internal restructuring. The address of the correspondent for the 2014 assignment is a law firm in Fort Collins, CO.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither OpenTV Inc. nor Nagrastar LLC appear on public NPE lists such as those associated with Acacia Research, Marathon Patent Group, Intellectual Ventures, IPNav, Wi-LAN, Mosaid/Conversant, Vringo, Pendrell, Innovatio IP Ventures, MPHJ Technology, Lumen View Technology, Round Rock Research, or Document Generation Corp.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman, L.L.P. appears as the correspondent for both the 2003-09-22 (Reel 014605/0284) and 2006-05-18 (Reel 017770/0651) assignments.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs in a short timeframe.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The patent's litigation history is not provided in the prompt and further investigation would be needed to make this determination.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. OpenTV Inc. was acquired by Kudelski Group, not divested due to bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no publicly available information in the provided context to suggest OpenTV Inc. or Kudelski Group transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on their behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not end at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data
While one weak signal (repeat correspondent) is present, the ownership chain primarily reflects the acquisition of OpenTV Inc. by Kudelski Group. There is no clear evidence of a shell entity transfer or assertion activities by Nagrastar LLC to confidently label this as an NPE pattern. Further investigation into Nagrastar LLC's activities and any potential litigation involving this patent would be required for a definitive verdict.

USPTO Assignment Center search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/