Patent 7384177

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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Ownership chain (6)

Asserters network →

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

  1. 2005-10-21 · reel 016766/0587 · Assignment

    PARKER, JEFFERY R.SOLID STATE OPTO LIMITED

    Correspondent: · SOLID STATE OPTO LIMITED

    Inventor assigned patent rights to the original assignee.

  2. 2010-02-18 · recorded 2010-03-02 · reel 024225/0365 · Assignment

    SOLID STATE OPTO LIMITEDRAMBUS INC.

    Correspondent: · BEYER WEAVER

    Transfer of patent rights.

  3. 2013-03-04 · recorded 2013-03-05 · reel 029705/0284 · Assignment

    RAMBUS INC.RAMBUS INC.

    Correspondent: · KENYON & KENYON

    Internal corporate reorganization within the Rambus entities.

  4. 2013-03-04 · recorded 2013-03-05 · reel 029705/0285 · Assignment

    RAMBUS INC.RAMBUS DELAWARE LLC

    Correspondent: · KENYON & KENYON

    Internal corporate reorganization within the Rambus entities.

  5. 2013-06-26 · recorded 2013-07-01 · reel 030062/0458 · Assignment

    RAMBUS DELAWARE LLCACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLC

    Correspondent: · ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION

    Transfer to an asserting entity

  6. 2013-06-27 · recorded 2013-07-01 · reel 030062/0460 · Assignment

    ACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLCINNOVATIVE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC

    Correspondent: · ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION

    Transfer to a specific Acacia subsidiary, likely for assertion purposes.

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

  • Jeffery R. Parker (Employer at time of filing: Solid State Opto Ltd)

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent US7384177B2 is Solid State Opto Ltd. Based on available information, it is unclear if Solid State Opto Ltd shipped a product embodying the claims. Their primary line of business, beyond patenting, is not readily determinable from the patent document itself. The current status of Solid State Opto Ltd (operating, acquired, dissolved, in bankruptcy) is not stated in the provided patent text or readily available without further external search.

Assignment timeline

  • 2005-10-21 (executed) / recorded 2005-10-21 — Reel 016766/0587
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: PARKER, JEFFERY R.
    • Assignee: SOLID STATE OPTO LIMITED
    • Correspondent: SOLID STATE OPTO LIMITED, 4175 EASTON COMMONS, SUITE 100, COLUMBUS, OH 43219
    • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to the original assignee.
  • 2010-02-18 (executed) / recorded 2010-03-02 — Reel 024225/0365
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: SOLID STATE OPTO LIMITED
    • Assignee: RAMBUS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
    • Correspondent: BEYER WEAVER LLP, 201 MISSION STREET, SUITE 2900, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105
    • Context: Transfer of patent rights.
  • 2013-03-04 (executed) / recorded 2013-03-05 — Reel 029705/0284
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: RAMBUS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
    • Assignee: RAMBUS INC.
    • Correspondent: KENYON & KENYON LLP, 1500 K STREET, N.W., SUITE 700, WASHINGTON, DC 20005
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization within the Rambus entities.
  • 2013-03-04 (executed) / recorded 2013-03-05 — Reel 029705/0285
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: RAMBUS INC.
    • Assignee: RAMBUS DELAWARE LLC
    • Correspondent: KENYON & KENYON LLP, 1500 K STREET, N.W., SUITE 700, WASHINGTON, DC 20005. This correspondent firm (Kenyon & Kenyon LLP) appears on multiple entries in this chain.
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization within the Rambus entities.
  • 2013-06-26 (executed) / recorded 2013-07-01 — Reel 030062/0458
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: RAMBUS DELAWARE LLC
    • Assignee: ACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLC
    • Correspondent: ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION, 500 NEWPORT CENTER DRIVE, SUITE 800, NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92660
    • Context: Transfer to an asserting entity (Acacia Research Group LLC).
  • 2013-06-27 (executed) / recorded 2013-07-01 — Reel 030062/0460
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: ACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLC
    • Assignee: INNOVATIVE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC
    • Correspondent: ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION, 500 NEWPORT CENTER DRIVE, SUITE 800, NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92660. This correspondent firm (Acacia Research Corporation) appears on multiple entries in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer to a specific Acacia subsidiary, likely for assertion purposes.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7384177
    2005 : Filed by Solid State Opto Ltd
    2008 : Issued to Solid State Opto Ltd
    2010 : Assigned to Rambus International Ltd
    2013 : Assigned to Rambus Inc
         : Assigned to Rambus Delaware LLC
         : Assigned to Acacia Research Group LLC
         : Assigned to Innovative Display Technologies LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present.

    • Acacia Research Group LLC (Assignee on Reel 030062/0458): Acacia Research Corporation is a known patent assertion entity that uses subsidiary LLCs like Acacia Research Group LLC for licensing and assertion.
    • Innovative Display Technologies LLC (Assignee on Reel 030062/0460): This is a subsidiary of Acacia Research Group LLC, indicating a shell entity for patent assertion.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — present.

    • Acacia Research Group LLC (Assignee on Reel 030062/0458): Acacia Research Corporation is a well-known Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) and patent asserter.
    • Innovative Display Technologies LLC (Current Assignee): This entity is part of the Acacia Research Corporation family, which is a prominent NPE.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present.

    • KENYON & KENYON LLP (Correspondent on Reel 029705/0284 and Reel 029705/0285): This firm handled transfers within the Rambus corporate structure.
    • ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION (Correspondent on Reel 030062/0458 and Reel 030062/0460): This entity, acting as correspondent for both transfers involving Acacia, is a strong indicator of a coordinated assertion strategy.

  4. Cascading transfers — present.

    • Rambus International Ltd. to Rambus Inc. (executed 2013-03-04) / Rambus Inc. to Rambus Delaware LLC (executed 2013-03-04) / Rambus Delaware LLC to Acacia Research Group LLC (executed 2013-06-26) / Acacia Research Group LLC to Innovative Display Technologies LLC (executed 2013-06-27). These transfers occurred in quick succession (within approximately 4 months in 2013) and involved multiple LLCs, some with shared correspondents (Kenyon & Kenyon LLP, and then Acacia Research Corporation as the correspondent for the final transfers to the Acacia entities).

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The litigation history shows cases filed in 2013 and 2014, with the transfers to Acacia Research Group LLC and Innovative Display Technologies LLC occurring in June 2013. This timing (transfer in June 2013, first case filed in Delaware District Court in December 2013, and in Texas Eastern District Court in October 2013) suggests the transfers occurred very close to or just before the initiation of litigation.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy proceedings for Solid State Opto Ltd or Rambus in the provided information.

  7. Privateering — unclear. While the patent ended up with a known NPE (Acacia), the context of the transfer from Rambus (an operating company) does not explicitly state it was for assertion on Rambus's behalf against competitors.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain terminates with Innovative Display Technologies LLC, an Acacia subsidiary, which is an NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of Acacia Research Group LLC and its subsidiary Innovative Display Technologies LLC in the assignment chain, coupled with the rapid cascading transfers in mid-2013 and the apparent proximity of these transfers to the commencement of litigation (starting late 2013/early 2014), strongly indicates an NPE strategy. The repeat correspondent, Acacia Research Corporation, further supports this conclusion.

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

Generated 5/29/2026, 8:41:13 PM