Assignment history

Inventors

• Michael T. Lundy: The sole inventor listed on the patent. The initial assignment of his interest was to Sprint Spectrum, L.P. (Reel 012490/0793), indicating he was likely an employee or contractor for Sprint at the time of the invention. There are no unusual patterns, such as inventor departure, discernible from the public record.

Original assignee

The original assignee was Sprint Spectrum, L.P., a major US telecommunications company that built and operated a national wireless network. The company's primary business was providing mobile phone and data services to consumers and businesses. As an operating company in the mobile communications space, Sprint's commercial services were directly related to the subject matter of the patent. Sprint was later acquired by T-Mobile USA, Inc., in a merger that closed on April 1, 2020, and its brand and operations have since been integrated into T-Mobile.

Assignment timeline

• 2001-10-12 (executed) / recorded 2002-01-22 — Reel 012490/0793

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Michael T. Lundy
  • Assignee: Sprint Spectrum, L.P.
  • Correspondent: Donald D. Prohaska; Sprint; 6391 Sprint Parkway Mailstop: KSOPHT0101-Z2100; Overland Park, KS 66251-2100
  • Context: Standard assignment of invention from an inventor to their employer.

• 2017-02-15 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-03 — Reel 038743/0733

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement (Grant of Security Interest)
  • Assignor: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
  • Assignee: Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
  • Correspondent: Duane Morris LLP; Docketing Department; 1901 L Street, N.W. Suite 700; Washington, DC 20036
  • Context: Sprint pledged this patent, among others, as collateral for a financial transaction, a common form of corporate securitization.

• 2020-04-01 (executed) / recorded 2020-04-02 — Reel 050674/0239

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: Sprint Spectrum L.P. (and numerous other Sprint/T-Mobile entities)
  • Assignee: Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
  • Correspondent: Morrison & Foerster LLP; 425 Market Street; San Francisco, CA 94105
  • Context: A new security agreement was recorded, likely related to financing following the T-Mobile merger which closed on April 1, 2020.

• 2020-04-02 (executed) / recorded 2020-04-03 — Reel 050682/0255

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
  • Assignee: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
  • Correspondent: Duane Morris LLP; Docketing Department; 1901 L Street, N.W. Suite 700; Washington, DC 20036 (Same correspondent as the 2017 security agreement).
  • Context: The security interest from the 2017 agreement was terminated and released, returning full rights to Sprint.

• (N/A) (executed) / recorded 2022-02-11 — Reel 062638/0333

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: Sprint Spectrum L.P.
  • Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LLC
  • Correspondent: T-Mobile, US, Inc.; 12920 SE 38th Street; Docketing Department; Bellevue, WA 98006
  • Context: An internal corporate restructuring changing the legal entity type from a Limited Partnership (L.P.) to a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

• 2022-08-15 (executed) / recorded 2022-08-23 — Reel 066376/0001

  • Conveyance: Release of Security Interest
  • Assignor: Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
  • Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LLC (and numerous other Sprint/T-Mobile entities)
  • Correspondent: Morrison & Foerster LLP; Trademark/Copyright/Patent Docketing; 425 Market Street; San Francisco, CA 94105-2482 (Same correspondent as the 2020 security agreement).
  • Context: The security interest from the 2020 agreement was released, returning full rights to the Sprint/T-Mobile entities.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7305442
    2001 : Invented by M. Lundy
    2002 : Assigned to Sprint Spectrum L.P.
    2007 : Patent Issued
    2017 : Security interest to Deutsche Bank
    2020 : Security interest released
         : New security interest to Deutsche Bank
    2022 : Sprint Spectrum L.P. name change to LLC
         : Security interest released

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Not present. All assignees are either the original operating company (Sprint), its post-merger parent (T-Mobile), or a major financial institution (Deutsche Bank) for a security agreement. The final change of name to an LLC was an internal reorganization, not a transfer to a licensing-only entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain: Not present. Sprint/T-Mobile is an operating company. Deutsche Bank is a financial institution and not known as a patent asserter.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Present, but not in a way that suggests NPE activity. Duane Morris LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP appear multiple times, but each acted consistently for one side of a financial transaction (Duane Morris for the 2017 security interest and its 2020 release; Morrison & Foerster for the 2020 security agreement and its 2022 release). This reflects standard corporate counsel relationships for securitization rather than a single attorney managing a web of shell LLCs.

4. Cascading transfers: Not present. The transfers are spaced years apart and are related to distinct corporate financing and restructuring events.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Not present. There is no record of litigation involving this patent.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. Sprint was acquired by T-Mobile, not liquidated through bankruptcy.

7. Privateering: Not present. The patent has remained with the original operating company and its corporate successor.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The patent is not assigned to any known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data

The assignment record shows the patent was created and has remained within a single large operating company (Sprint, now part of T-Mobile). The only transfers of interest are standard security agreements with a major bank (Reels 038743/0733 and 050674/0239), which were subsequently released. There are no signals whatsoever of a transfer to a non-practicing or assertion-focused entity. The patent remains the property of an operating company.

A full record of the assignment chain can be viewed at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search page by searching for patent number 7305442.