Patent 7370035

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.

Active provider: Google · gemini-2.5-flash

Ownership chain (6)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2004-06-28 · reel 011927/0572 · Assignment

    IDEALABX1 Technologies, Inc.

    Correspondent: Steven Lee Colwell

    Transfer from original assignee to an entity associated with an inventor.

  2. 2004-06-28 · reel 011927/0574 · Assignment

    Steven Lee ColwellX1 Technologies, Inc.

    Correspondent: Steven Lee Colwell · Idealab

    Transfer from inventor to an entity associated with the inventor.

  3. 2005-04-15 · reel 015383/0951 · Assignment

    William GrossIDEALAB

    Correspondent: George S. Cheng · Greenberg Traurig

    Transfer from inventor back to original assignee.

  4. 2005-05-06 · reel 015483/0394 · Assignment

    Steven Lee ColwellX1 Technologies, Inc.

    Correspondent: Steven Lee Colwell

    Transfer from inventor to X1 Technologies, Inc.

  5. 2012-04-19 · reel 028303/0751 · Change of Name

    X1 Technologies, Inc.FUTURE SEARCH HOLDINGS, INC.

    Correspondent: Matthew J. Kessler · Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

    Corporate name change.

  6. 2023-04-25 · reel 065747/0867 · Assignment of Assignors Interest

    FUTURE SEARCH HOLDINGS, INC.X1 Discovery, Inc.

    Correspondent: David H. Swinton · The Swinton Law Firm

    Transfer of interest.

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

  • William Gross: Idealab Inc.
  • Steven Lee Colwell: Idealab Inc.

Original assignee

Idealab Inc. was the original assignee. Idealab is known as a creator and operator of internet companies. Its current status is operating.

Assignment timeline

  • 2004-06-28 (executed) / recorded 2004-06-28 — Reel 011927/0572
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Idealab Inc.
    • Assignee: X1 Technologies, Inc.
    • Correspondent: Steven Lee Colwell, Idealab, 130 W. Union Street, Pasadena, CA 91103.
    • Context: Transfer from original assignee to an entity associated with an inventor.
  • 2004-06-28 (executed) / recorded 2004-06-28 — Reel 011927/0574
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Steven Lee Colwell
    • Assignee: X1 Technologies, Inc.
    • Correspondent: Steven Lee Colwell, Idealab, 130 W. Union Street, Pasadena, CA 91103. This correspondent also appears on reel 011927/0572.
    • Context: Transfer from inventor to an entity associated with the inventor.
  • 2005-04-15 (executed) / recorded 2005-04-15 — Reel 015383/0951
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: William Gross
    • Assignee: Idealab, Inc.
    • Correspondent: George S. Cheng, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, 2450 Colorado Avenue, Suite 400 E, Santa Monica, CA 90404.
    • Context: Transfer from inventor back to original assignee.
  • 2005-05-06 (executed) / recorded 2005-05-06 — Reel 015483/0394
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Steven Lee Colwell
    • Assignee: X1 Technologies, Inc. (formerly X1 Technologies, LLC)
    • Correspondent: Steven Lee Colwell, X1 Technologies, Inc., 130 West Union Street, Pasadena, CA 91103. This correspondent also appears on reels 011927/0572 and 011927/0574.
    • Context: Transfer from inventor to X1 Technologies, Inc.
  • 2012-04-19 (executed) / recorded 2012-04-19 — Reel 028303/0751
    • Conveyance: Change of Name
    • Assignor: X1 Technologies, Inc.
    • Assignee: Future Search Holdings, Inc.
    • Correspondent: Matthew J. Kessler, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, 399 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
    • Context: Corporate name change.
  • 2023-04-25 (executed) / recorded 2023-04-25 — Reel 065747/0867
    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: Future Search Holdings, Inc.
    • Assignee: X1 Discovery, Inc.
    • Correspondent: David H. Swinton, The Swinton Law Firm, 1729 Seabright Ave., Long Beach, CA 90813.
    • Context: Transfer of interest.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7370035
    2003 : Filed by Idealab Inc
    2004 : Assigned to X1 Technologies Inc
         : Assigned by S Colwell to X1 Tech
    2005 : Assigned by W Gross to Idealab
         : Assigned by S Colwell to X1 Tech
    2008 : Issued
    2012 : X1 Technologies Inc changes to Future Search Holdings Inc
    2023 : Assigned to X1 Discovery Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While "Future Search Holdings, Inc." and "X1 Discovery, Inc." could suggest a shell entity, there is no direct evidence from the assignment records (e.g., registered-agent address, explicit statement of no products) to confirm this.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Idealab Inc., X1 Technologies, Inc., Future Search Holdings, Inc., X1 Discovery, Inc.) appear on common public NPE lists.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Steven Lee Colwell of Idealab (and later X1 Technologies, Inc.) appears as the correspondent on two assignments to X1 Technologies, Inc. in 2004 and one in 2005 (reels 011927/0572, 011927/0574, 015483/0394). This indicates a consistent legal representative for transfers to X1 Technologies, Inc.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. The transfers are spaced out over several years, not within a rapid 24-month period.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the patent family has litigation, the specific assignment to X1 Discovery, Inc. in 2023 is not immediately preceding the earliest listed litigation event from 2023 on Google Patents. Without specific filing dates for the lawsuits, it's difficult to definitively establish a pre-litigation transfer link.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the assignment records or Google Patents data that Idealab Inc. or any subsequent assignee underwent bankruptcy proceedings leading to a patent sale.
  7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information in the assignment records or publicly available data to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to an NPE for assertion on its behalf.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While the presence of a repeat correspondent for transfers to X1 Technologies, Inc. is a signal, there is insufficient concrete evidence from the assignment records to definitively classify X1 Discovery, Inc. or its predecessors as a shell entity or known NPE. More detailed information on the nature of X1 Discovery, Inc.'s business and any past assertion activities would be required for a higher confidence verdict.

Generated 6/19/2026, 12:46:20 AM