Assignment history

Inventors

• Michael J. Miller (Employer at time of filing: Not determinable from patent text)
• Leonard Jay Wantz (Employer at time of filing: Not determinable from patent text)

No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, are discernible from the provided patent text.

Original assignee

The original assignee was Groove Unlimited LLC. Based on the provided patent information, it is not determinable if Groove Unlimited LLC shipped a product embodying the claims or their primary line of business. Their current status (operating, acquired, dissolved, in bankruptcy) is not stated in the patent text.

Assignment timeline

• 2007-03-09 (executed) / recorded 2007-03-12 — Reel 018992/0201

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: MILLER, MICHAEL J., WANTZ, LEONARD JAY
  • Assignee: GROOVE UNLIMITED, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified in this entry.
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to original assignee.

• 2008-08-27 (executed) / recorded 2008-10-08 — Reel 021640/0691

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: GROOVE UNLIMITED, LLC
  • Assignee: DATA SPEED II, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
  • Correspondent: Not specified in this entry.
  • Context: Transfer from original assignee.

• 2015-08-26 (executed) / recorded 2021-01-26 — Reel 037584/0951

  • Conveyance: Merger
  • Assignor: DATA SPEED II, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
  • Assignee: OL SECURITY LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
  • Correspondent: Not specified in this entry.
  • Context: Transfer of ownership via merger.

• 2022-07-21 (executed) / recorded 2022-07-21 — Reel 060585/0235

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: OL SECURITY LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 184 LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified in this entry.
  • Context: Transfer to Intellectual Ventures entity.

• 2022-07-28 (executed) / recorded 2022-08-02 — Reel 060698/0604

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 184 LLC
  • Assignee: IOT INNOVATIONS LLC
  • Correspondent: Not specified in this entry.
  • Context: Transfer from Intellectual Ventures entity to current assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7209876
    2007 : Assigned to Groove Unlimited LLC
    2008 : Assigned to Data Speed II LLC
    2015 : Merged to OL Security LLC
    2022 : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC
         : Assigned to Iot Innovations LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from OL Security LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY to INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 184 LLC (Reel 060585/0235) and then to IOT INNOVATIONS LLC (Reel 060698/0604) indicates shell entity behavior. Intellectual Ventures is a known patent licensing and assertion entity. Iot Innovations LLC also appears to be a licensing-focused entity, given the litigation history of the patent.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 184 LLC is a known entity associated with Intellectual Ventures, which is a well-known patent licensing and assertion firm (NPE). This transfer is recorded on Reel 060585/0235.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. The provided assignment records do not specify the correspondent attorney or firm for any of the transactions.
4. Cascading transfers — present. There are two consecutive assignments in a short timeframe in 2022: from OL Security Limited Liability Company to Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC (executed 2022-07-21, recorded 2022-07-21, Reel 060585/0235), and then from Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC to Iot Innovations LLC (executed 2022-07-28, recorded 2022-08-02, Reel 060698/0604). These two transfers occurred within 12 days of each other (execution dates) or 13 days (recording dates), indicating a rapid change of ownership.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to Iot Innovations LLC on 2022-07-28 (executed) / 2022-08-02 (recorded), via Reel 060698/0604. Litigation cases against this patent were filed in Massachusetts District Court (e.g., 1:23-cv-12528, 1:23-cv-10352) and Georgia Northern District Court (1:23-cv-02475) in 2023, which is within 6 months of the assignment.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no information in the provided patent text to suggest a bankruptcy fire-sale.
7. Privateering — unclear. While the chain involves a known NPE, there is no explicit information from the provided data to determine if this is a privateering arrangement where an operating company transfers the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Iot Innovations LLC, which is not a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
The presence of Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC in the assignment chain (Reel 060585/0235), followed by a rapid transfer to Iot Innovations LLC (Reel 060698/0604), strongly indicates an NPE pattern. Furthermore, the timing of these transfers immediately preceding multiple district court litigation filings in 2023 reinforces the conclusion that the patent was acquired for assertion purposes.

USPTO Assignment Center search page for verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/