Assignment history

Inventors

• Christian Wengerter: Employee of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. at the time of filing.
• Alexander Golitschek Edler Von Elbwart: Employee of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. at the time of filing.
• Eiko Seidel: Employee of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. at the time of filing.

All inventors were likely employees of the original assignee, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., at the time of the patent application filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent (US7154961B2) was Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd..
This company was a major global manufacturer of electronics, renowned for products under the Panasonic brand. Its primary line of business involved consumer electronics, industrial equipment, and housing. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. shipped a wide range of products, including wireless communication devices, which would embody the claims of this patent. The company subsequently changed its name to Panasonic Corporation in 2008. Panasonic Corporation is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2004-09-15 (executed) / recorded 2004-12-06 — Reel 016820/0331

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: WENGERTER, CHRISTIAN; GOLITSCHEK EDLER VON ELBWART, ALEXANDER; SEIDEL, EIKO
  • Assignee: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Transfer from individual inventors to their corporate employer.

• 2008-10-01 (executed) / recorded 2008-11-20 — Reel 021930/0876

  • Conveyance: CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
  • Assignee: PANASONIC CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Corporate name change from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. to Panasonic Corporation.

• 2014-05-27 (executed) / recorded 2014-05-27 — Reel 033033/0163

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: PANASONIC CORPORATION
  • Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Internal corporate reorganization for intellectual property management.

• 2015-12-02/04 (executed) / recorded 2016-01-10 — Reel 037471/0227

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: PANASONIC CORPORATION; PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA; PANASONIC SYSTEM NETWORKS CORPORATION
  • Assignee: GRAND MESA, SERIES 57 OF THE ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Portfolio sale from Panasonic entities to a specific series of Allied Security Trust, likely for monetization or defensive aggregation.

• 2017-02-01 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-02 — Reel 041443/0083

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: GRAND MESA, SERIES 57 OF THE ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I
  • Assignee: INTERTECHNOLOGY GLOBAL LLC
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Transfer from a potential defensive aggregator vehicle to a new, likely licensing-focused entity.

• 2015-12-02/04 (executed) / recorded 2018-09-05 — Reel 047015/0263

  • Conveyance: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: PANASONIC SYSTEM NETWORKS CO., LTD.; PANASONIC CORPORATION; PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
  • Assignee: GRAND MESA, SERIES 57 OF THE ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Corrective assignment confirming the previous transfer to Grand Mesa.

• 2020-04-22 (executed) / recorded 2020-04-27 — Reel 052506/0513

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: INTERTECHNOLOGY GLOBAL LLC
  • Assignee: SWIRLATE IP LLC
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from the provided data.
  • Context: Transfer between shell entities, leading to the current litigious owner.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7154961
    2004 : Assigned to Matsushita Electric
    2008 : Name change to Panasonic Corp
    2014 : Assigned to Panasonic IP Corp Amer
    2015 : Assigned to Grand Mesa AST I
    2017 : Assigned to Intertechnology Global LLC
    2018 : Corrective assignmt to Grand Mesa AST I
    2020 : Assigned to Swirlate IP LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — PRESENT
   • INTERTECHNOLOGY GLOBAL LLC, TEXAS (assignee on 2017-03-02, Reel 041443/0083; assignor on 2020-04-27, Reel 052506/0513) and SWIRLATE IP LLC, TEXAS (assignee on 2020-04-27, Reel 052506/0513) both have names indicative of licensing entities and are registered in Texas, a common jurisdiction for NPEs. Swirlate IP LLC is confirmed as a frequent plaintiff in the provided litigation summary.
2. Known asserter in the chain — PRESENT
   • SWIRLATE IP LLC (current assignee, 2020-04-27, Reel 052506/0513) is explicitly identified as the plaintiff in numerous infringement lawsuits related to this patent, as detailed in the patent's litigation summary.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — NOT PRESENT
   • Correspondent information is not explicitly provided in the "Legal Events" section of the Google Patents record, thus preventing assessment of recurrence.
4. Cascading transfers — NOT PRESENT
   • While there are multiple transfers, the intervals between subsequent assignments (e.g., ~13 months from Grand Mesa to Intertechnology Global, ~3 years from Intertechnology Global to Swirlate IP) do not meet the "multiple consecutive assignments ... in <24 months" criterion.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — PRESENT
   • The patent was assigned to SWIRLATE IP LLC on 2020-04-27 (Reel 052506/0513). The first recorded litigation case with Swirlate IP LLC as plaintiff, Swirlate IP LLC v. TCL MOKA Manufacturing, S. de R.L. de C.V. et al, was filed on 2020-11-23. This places the first lawsuit approximately 7 months after the assignment, strongly indicating the transfer was in preparation for assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — NOT PRESENT
   • The original assignee and its direct corporate successors (Matsushita/Panasonic) are large, operating companies and there is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings related to the patent transfer.
7. Privateering — UNCLEAR
   • While the initial transfer from Panasonic to Grand Mesa (an AST-related entity) could potentially have privateering elements as part of a broader monetization strategy, the subsequent transfers to Intertechnology Global LLC and Swirlate IP LLC, followed by aggressive assertion, complicate this interpretation. There's no explicit evidence in the provided text to confirm a privateering arrangement where Panasonic is benefiting from Swirlate's assertions.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — INVERSE SIGNAL
   • GRAND MESA, SERIES 57 OF THE ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I (assignee on 2016-01-10, Reel 037471/0227) is related to Allied Security Trust, a known defensive aggregator. However, the patent was subsequently transferred away from this entity to known asserters (Intertechnology Global LLC and Swirlate IP LLC), rather than terminating there. This suggests that for this specific patent, the defensive purpose (if any) did not hold, and it moved into an assertion pathway.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment chain clearly demonstrates a pattern consistent with patent assertion entities. Key signals include the transfer to shell entities (Intertechnology Global LLC and Swirlate IP LLC) which bear typical NPE naming conventions and registered addresses in Texas. Most critically, Swirlate IP LLC, the current owner (Reel 052506/0513, recorded 2020-04-27), is extensively engaged in litigation asserting this patent, with the first lawsuit filed approximately 7 months after acquisition, indicating a pre-litigation transfer for assertion purposes. While an AST-related entity was briefly in the chain, the patent's ultimate trajectory was towards aggressive assertion.

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