Assignment history

Inventors

The named inventors for US Patent 7,323,982 are Houston Staton, James Ashley, Sr., James Ashley, Jr., Frank Mooney, Patrick Mooney, Edward Lang, Charles Maggs, and German Santos. At the time of filing, these inventors appear to have been employed by the original assignee, Wirelesswerx International Inc., as their interests in the patent application were assigned to Wirelesswerx International Inc. shortly after the filing date.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent is Wirelesswerx International Inc. Based on the patent's detailed description of a "Method and system to control movable entities" and the internal components of a "transponder 105" and a "backend control system 150," it appears Wirelesswerx International Inc. was involved in developing and potentially commercializing GPS vehicle tracking and control systems. However, public records do not definitively confirm that Wirelesswerx International Inc. widely shipped a product embodying the claims in commerce.

Regarding its current status, Wirelesswerx International Inc. transferred ownership of US7323982 to Wirelesswerx IP LLC in June 2022. Its current operating status or primary line of business post-transfer is not immediately discernible from the patent record alone.

Assignment timeline

• 2005-07-06 (executed) / recorded 2005-07-11 — Reel 016259/0569

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Houston Staton, James Ashley, Sr., James Ashley, Jr., Frank Mooney, Patrick Mooney, Edward Lang, Charles Maggs, German Santos (all inventors, as individual assignments).
  • Assignee: Wirelesswerx International, Inc.
  • Correspondent: LUNDGREN & JOHNSON, P.S.C. (212 SOUTH DREW STREET, PO BOX 2831, LAKE CITY, FL 32056).
  • Context: Initial assignment of inventor rights to the original corporate entity.

• 2022-06-23 (executed) / recorded 2022-06-30 — Reel 057530/0695

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: WIRELESSWERX INTERNATIONAL, INC.
  • Assignee: WIRELESSWERX IP LLC
  • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP (ONE LOGAN SQUARE, 130 N. 18TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103).
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership from the original entity to a new entity with an "IP" designation.

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Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7323982
    2005 : Inventors assigned to Wirelesswerx International Inc
    2008 : Patent issued
    2022 : Wirelesswerx International Inc to Wirelesswerx IP LLC
    2024 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from Wirelesswerx International Inc. to Wirelesswerx IP LLC on 2022-06-23 / recorded 2022-06-30 (Reel 057530/0695). The "IP LLC" suffix in the assignee's name strongly suggests a licensing-focused entity, and the previous analysis indicates this entity asserts patents against other companies.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Wirelesswerx IP LLC, the current assignee, is identified in the litigation summary as having asserted this patent against multiple companies including Verizon, Zebra Technologies, Audi, Tesla, and Hyundai. Unified Patents also requested an ex parte reexamination of the patent.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. The initial assignment used LUNDGREN & JOHNSON, P.S.C. (Reel 016259/0569), while the subsequent assignment to Wirelesswerx IP LLC used BLANK ROME LLP (Reel 057530/0695). These are different correspondents.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only two assignments are recorded over a period of 17 years.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to Wirelesswerx IP LLC occurred in June 2022 (Reel 057530/0695). The earliest litigation case identified is from 2024 (e.g., 2:24-cv-00163), which is more than six months after the transfer.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no information indicating a bankruptcy proceeding for Wirelesswerx International Inc. associated with the patent transfer.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Wirelesswerx IP LLC appears to be an asserting entity, and Wirelesswerx International Inc. may have been an operating company, there is no explicit evidence from the provided records (e.g., SEC filings or public reports) to confirm that the transfer was part of a privateering arrangement where the original operating company benefits from the assertion.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently held by an entity actively involved in assertion, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is driven by two strong signals: the transfer of the patent to Wirelesswerx IP LLC (Reel 057530/0695), a name explicitly indicating an intellectual property focus, and the confirmed pattern of assertion by Wirelesswerx IP LLC against numerous companies, as detailed in the litigation summary. The current assignee clearly operates as a patent licensing and assertion entity.

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