Patent 7359437

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Seung Ho Hwang: Employee of Silicon Image Inc. at the time of filing.
  • Jano Banks: Employee of Silicon Image Inc. at the time of filing.
  • Paul Daniel Wolf: Employee of Silicon Image Inc. at the time of filing.
  • Eric Lee: Employee of Silicon Image Inc. at the time of filing.
  • Baegin Sung: Employee of Silicon Image Inc. at the time of filing.
  • Albert M. Scalise: Employee of Silicon Image Inc. at the time of filing.

All named inventors assigned their rights to Silicon Image Inc. within months of the application filing date, which is standard practice for employee-inventors. There are no unusual patterns suggesting a pre-fire-sale departure.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent US7359437 is Silicon Image Inc.

Silicon Image Inc. was a semiconductor company that developed DVI and HDMI technologies, which are directly related to the subject matter of the patent (encoding for serial link transmission, e.g., TMDS link). Therefore, they shipped products embodying the claims of the patent.

Silicon Image Inc. was acquired by Lattice Semiconductor Corporation in 2015. Its current status is acquired.

Assignment timeline

  • 2002-03-11 (executed) / recorded 2002-03-18 — Reel 013444/0490

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: Jano Banks, Baegin Sung, Paul Daniel Wolf, Seung Ho Hwang, Eric Lee
    • Assignee: SILICON IMAGE, INC.
    • Correspondent: Silicon Image, Inc., C/O Gregory J. Koerner, Patent Counsel, 1060 E. Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086
    • Context: Inventor assignment to the original assignee.

  • 2002-06-06 (executed) / recorded 2002-06-12 — Reel 013669/0569

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: ALBERT M. SCALISE
    • Assignee: SILICON IMAGE, INC.
    • Correspondent: Silicon Image, Inc., C/O Gregory J. Koerner, Patent Counsel, 1060 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086
    • Context: Inventor assignment to the original assignee.

  • 2015-03-17 (executed) / recorded 2015-04-10 — Reel 034988/0600

    • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
    • Assignor: SILICON IMAGE, INC., DVDO, INC., LATTICE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION, SIBEAM, INC.
    • Assignee: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
    • Correspondent: Andrew J. Valentine, VENABLE LLP, 575 7th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
    • Context: Securitization of assets by Silicon Image and related entities, preceding Silicon Image's acquisition by Lattice.

  • 2019-05-21 (executed) / recorded 2019-05-28 — Reel 046399/0810

    • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
    • Assignor: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
    • Assignee: LATTICE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION, SILICON IMAGE, INC., DVDO, INC., SIBEAM, INC.
    • Correspondent: Michael T. Scott, VENABLE LLP, P.O. Box 34385, Washington, DC 20043-4385. (VENABLE LLP recurs in this chain).
    • Context: Release of a security interest, following Lattice Semiconductor's acquisition of Silicon Image Inc.

  • 2019-09-09 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-10 — Reel 049539/0904

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: LATTICE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    • Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    • Correspondent: PHILLIPS N.V., KONINKLIJKE, CORPORATE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, HIGH TECH CAMPUS 34, 5656 AE EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
    • Context: Transfer of the patent from Lattice Semiconductor Corporation to Koninklijke Philips N.V. as part of portfolio management.

  • 2024-07-04 (executed) / recorded 2024-07-16 — Reel 055813/0508

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    • Assignee: GENERAL VIDEO LLC
    • Correspondent: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P., 1030 15th Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20005-1517
    • Context: Transfer from an operating company (Philips) to a licensing-focused entity (General Video LLC).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7359437
    2001 : Application filed by Silicon Image Inc
    2002 : Inventors assign to Silicon Image
    2008 : Patent issued to Silicon Image Inc
    2015 : Security interest to Jefferies Finance LLC
         : Silicon Image acquired by Lattice
    2019 : Security interest released
         : Assigned to Koninklijke Philips NV
    2024 : Assigned to General Video LLC
         : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from Koninklijke Philips N.V. to General Video LLC (Reel 055813/0508, executed 2024-07-04, recorded 2024-07-16) suggests a shell-entity transfer. General Video LLC is a generic name and is identified as a patent owner in multiple district court and PTAB litigation cases involving this patent, indicating a licensing-focused entity rather than a product developer.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. General Video LLC is the current assignee and has initiated multiple litigations concerning this patent, as indicated by the Unified Patents litigation data for cases in Texas Eastern, Texas Western, and Delaware District Courts, as well as PTAB IPRs.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. VENABLE LLP (Andrew J. Valentine and Michael T. Scott) appears as correspondent for the security interest (Reel 034988/0600) and its subsequent release (Reel 046399/0810), representing the operating companies (Silicon Image/Lattice). However, a different firm, Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P., handled the final transfer to General Video LLC (Reel 055813/0508). While recurrence of the VENABLE LLP within the operating company chain is noted, it doesn't directly signal an NPE pattern in this specific chain related to the final transfer.

  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers in the chain are spaced by several years, not within a short 24-month period with common correspondents or principals.

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to General Video LLC was executed on 2024-07-04 and recorded on 2024-07-16 (Reel 055813/0508). Multiple district court cases involving this patent and General Video LLC as a plaintiff were filed in 2024, such as 5:24-cv-00123, 5:24-cv-00122, and others in the Texas Eastern and Western District Courts. This indicates the transfer occurred shortly before or concurrently with the initiation of litigation.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The original assignee, Silicon Image Inc., was acquired by Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, not dissolved in bankruptcy. The subsequent transfers appear to be strategic portfolio sales rather than distress sales.

  7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no explicit information in the provided data or assignment records to suggest that Philips or Lattice transferred the patent to General Video LLC with an agreement for assertion against their competitors.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The final assignee, General Video LLC, is identified as an asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is justified by the presence of strong signals: the transfer to a shell entity (General Video LLC) as the current assignee (Reel 055813/0508) that is a known asserter, and the pre-litigation timing of this transfer (executed 2024-07-04) relative to the filing of multiple infringement lawsuits in 2024.

(For verification, search US Patent Assignment database for "US7359437" at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/.)

Generated 5/15/2026, 12:46:26 PM