Patent 7461353

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 (5)

Asserters network →

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

  1. 2007-12-09 · reel 020268/0342 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    ROHRABAUGH, GARY B.SOFTSOURCE CORPORATION

    Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG

    Transfer of inventor's interest to a corporation.

  2. 2007-12-09 · reel 020268/0342 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    SHERMAN, SCOTT A.SOFTSOURCE CORPORATION

    Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG

    Transfer of inventor's interest to a corporation.

  3. 2007-12-09 · reel 020268/0342 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    SOFTSOURCE CORPORATIONSOFTSOURCE CORPORATION

    Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG

    Internal reorganization / transfer to an LLC.

  4. 2007-12-09 · reel 020268/0342 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    SOFTSOURCE CORPORATIONROHRABAUGH, GARY B.

    Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG

    Transfer back to one of the inventors.

  5. 2010-05-10 · recorded 2010-06-25 · reel 024823/0488 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    ROHRABAUGH, GARY B.SOFTVIEW L.L.C.

    Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG

    Transfer to SoftView L.L.C.

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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Inventors

No specific employer is listed for the inventors at the time of filing; they are listed as "Individual" on the patent and in the assignment records. There is no information to suggest they departed an original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on the patent document, is "Individual". However, the first recorded assignment indicates that the inventors assigned their interest to SoftSource Corporation.

SoftSource Corporation's primary line of business and product offerings embodying the claims are unclear from the patent text alone. According to Google Patents, the current assignee is SoftView LLC. SoftView LLC has been involved in litigation related to this patent, suggesting an assertion-focused business model.

Assignment timeline

  • 2007-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2007-12-09 — Reel 020268/0342

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: ROHRABAUGH, GARY B.
    • Assignee: SOFTSOURCE CORPORATION
    • Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG, ESQ., 1900 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94303
    • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to a corporation.

  • 2007-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2007-12-09 — Reel 020268/0342

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: SHERMAN, SCOTT A.
    • Assignee: SOFTSOURCE CORPORATION
    • Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG, ESQ., 1900 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94303. This correspondent recurs.
    • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to a corporation.

  • 2007-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2007-12-09 — Reel 020268/0342

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: SOFTSOURCE CORPORATION
    • Assignee: SOFTSOURCE, LLC
    • Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG, ESQ., 1900 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94303. This correspondent recurs.
    • Context: Internal reorganization / transfer to an LLC.

  • 2007-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2007-12-09 — Reel 020268/0342

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: SOFTSOURCE, LLC
    • Assignee: ROHRABAUGH, GARY B.
    • Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG, ESQ., 1900 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94303. This correspondent recurs.
    • Context: Transfer back to one of the inventors.

  • 2010-05-10 (executed) / recorded 2010-06-25 — Reel 024823/0488

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: ROHRABAUGH, GARY B.
    • Assignee: SOFTVIEW L.L.C.
    • Correspondent: STEPHEN G. CHANG, ESQ., 1900 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94303. This correspondent recurs.
    • Context: Transfer to SoftView L.L.C.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7461353
    2005 : Application filed
    2007 : Inventors assign to SoftSource Corp
         : SoftSource Corp assigns to SoftSource LLC
         : SoftSource LLC assigns to Rohrabaugh
    2008 : Patent issued
    2010 : Rohrabaugh assigns to SoftView LLC
    2011 : First litigation case filed (approx)
    2022 : Patent expired

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present.

    • 2007-12-09 / recorded 2007-12-09 — Reel 020268/0342: SoftSource Corporation assigns to SoftSource, LLC. The change from "Corporation" to "LLC" can indicate a shift towards a more licensing-focused entity.
    • 2010-05-10 / recorded 2010-06-25 — Reel 024823/0488: Gary B. Rohrabaugh assigns to SOFTVIEW L.L.C. SoftView LLC is known to be an asserting entity involved in litigation for this patent family.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. SoftView LLC is identified as the current assignee by Google Patents and is involved in numerous litigations, which is characteristic of an NPE.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. STEPHEN G. CHANG, ESQ. of 1900 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94303 is the correspondent of record for all assignments recorded on Reel 020268/0342 (2007-12-09) and Reel 024823/0488 (2010-06-25).

  4. Cascading transfers — present. On 2007-12-09, there are three consecutive assignments: from Gary B. Rohrabaugh to SoftSource Corporation, from Scott A. Sherman to SoftSource Corporation, from SoftSource Corporation to SoftSource, LLC, and from SoftSource, LLC back to Gary B. Rohrabaugh, all executed and recorded on the same day (Reel 020268/0342). This series of quick transfers within a short timeframe, involving multiple entities, suggests internal restructuring potentially in preparation for future actions.

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to SoftView LLC occurred on 2010-05-10 (executed) / 2010-06-25 (recorded) (Reel 024823/0488). According to Google Patents, litigation cases related to this patent began in 2011, approximately 6-12 months after the transfer to SoftView LLC.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy for the original assignors or any entity in the chain.

  7. Privateering — unclear. While SoftView LLC is an asserting entity, the available information does not explicitly state that they are asserting on behalf of an operating company.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment chain exhibits multiple strong signals indicative of an NPE. The sequence of rapid transfers in 2007, the ultimate assignment to SoftView LLC (a known asserting entity), the involvement of a repeat correspondent across the assignments, and the timing of the transfer to SoftView LLC immediately preceding the first litigation cases strongly point to an NPE assertion pattern. These patterns are clearly visible in the records from Reel 020268/0342 and Reel 024823/0488, with litigation beginning around 2011.

Verification: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US7461353

Generated 5/29/2026, 5:43:13 PM