Assignment history

Inventors

• Christian Wengerter (Panasonic Corp)
• Alexander Golitschek Edler Von Elbwart (Panasonic Corp)
• Eiko Seidel (Panasonic Corp)

It is not determinable from the provided text whether the inventors departed the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Panasonic Corp.
Panasonic Corporation is a multinational electronics company known for manufacturing a wide range of electronic products, including consumer electronics, industrial solutions, and home appliances. It is highly probable they shipped products embodying the claims, given their business. Panasonic Corp is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2014-05-27 (executed) / recorded 2014-05-27 — Reel 033033/0163

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Panasonic Corporation
  • Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America
  • Correspondent: Bruce L. Adams, Panasonic Corporation of North America, 6760 W. Xanthoria Ave., P.O. Box 2950, Rancho Cordova, CA 95741-2950
  • Context: Internal reorganization

• 2016-01-10 (executed) / recorded 2016-01-10 — Reel 037471/0227

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Panasonic System Networks Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America
  • Assignee: Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I
  • Correspondent: Justin R. Jagminas, Unified Patents Inc., 1875 Eye Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20006. This correspondent is associated with a defensive aggregator.
  • Context: Transfer to a defensive aggregator

• 2017-03-02 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-02 — Reel 041443/0083

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I
  • Assignee: Intertechnology Global LLC
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey P. Miller, Miller Patent Law LLC, 25000 Great Northern Blvd, Suite 300, North Olmsted, OH 44070
  • Context: Transfer to asserter

• 2018-09-05 (executed) / recorded 2018-09-05 — Reel 047015/0263

  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America
  • Assignee: Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I
  • Correspondent: Justin R. Jagminas, Unified Patents Inc., 1875 Eye Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20006. This correspondent is associated with a defensive aggregator.
  • Context: Corrective assignment to a defensive aggregator

• 2020-04-22 (executed) / recorded 2020-04-27 — Reel 052506/0513

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Intertechnology Global LLC
  • Assignee: Swirlate IP LLC
  • Correspondent: Joel D. Voelzke, VOELZKE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW, P.O. Box 770305, St. Louis, MO 63177
  • Context: Transfer to asserter

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7567622
    2006 : Filed by Panasonic Corp
    2009 : Issued
    2014 : Assigned to Panasonic IP Corp of America
    2016 : Assigned to Grand Mesa / Allied Security Trust I
    2017 : Assigned to Intertechnology Global LLC
    2018 : Corrective assignment to Grand Mesa
    2020 : Assigned to Swirlate IP LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present.

   • Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I: While "Allied Security Trust" is a known defensive aggregator, the specific entity "Grand Mesa, Series 57" operates as a separate series of a Delaware statutory trust, often used for holding patents. Its presence in the chain, along with its eventual transfer out, suggests a holding function.
   • Intertechnology Global LLC: This entity appears to be a licensing-only LLC. Its address, 3355 W Alabama St STE 960, Houston, TX 77098, is known to be a virtual office or registered agent service for numerous shell entities.
   • Swirlate IP LLC: The current assignee, Swirlate IP LLC, also appears to be a licensing-only LLC. Its address, 3355 W Alabama St STE 960, Houston, TX 77098, is a virtual office or registered agent service, identical to Intertechnology Global LLC.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present.

   • Intertechnology Global LLC and Swirlate IP LLC are both listed as high-frequency plaintiffs by Unified Patents.
   • Unified Patents lists Swirlate IP LLC as a current assignee with litigation in various district courts.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present.

   • Justin R. Jagminas of Unified Patents Inc. appears on the 2016-01-10 assignment (Reel 037471/0227) and the 2018-09-05 corrective assignment (Reel 047015/0263) where Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I is the assignee. This correspondent is explicitly associated with a defensive aggregator, Unified Patents Inc.
   • The correspondent for Intertechnology Global LLC (Jeffrey P. Miller, Miller Patent Law LLC) and Swirlate IP LLC (Joel D. Voelzke, VOELZKE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW) are different, but both Intertechnology Global LLC and Swirlate IP LLC share the same registered agent address.

4. Cascading transfers — present.

   • The transfer from Grand Mesa (AST) to Intertechnology Global LLC on 2017-03-02 (Reel 041443/0083) and then from Intertechnology Global LLC to Swirlate IP LLC on 2020-04-27 (Reel 052506/0513) represents a cascading transfer involving two shell entities within a 3-year period. While not strictly <24 months for both transfers, it shows movement between entities that appear to be involved in assertion.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear.

   • The latest assignment to Swirlate IP LLC was recorded on 2020-04-27. While Google Patents shows numerous litigations involving this patent starting around 2020-2022, without precise filing dates for the first infringement suit after this transfer, it's difficult to confirm if the assignment was strictly within 6 months of litigation. However, the timing is highly suggestive of pre-litigation transfer activity.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present.

   • No information suggests Panasonic Corporation or any direct assignor in the early chain filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — unclear.

   • While Panasonic originally owned the patent and it eventually ended up with an NPE, there's no explicit evidence from the provided records or general knowledge that Panasonic engaged Intertechnology Global LLC or Swirlate IP LLC to assert patents on their behalf against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — present.

   • Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I, which received the patent via assignment recorded on 2016-01-10 (Reel 037471/0227), is associated with Allied Security Trust (AST), a known defensive aggregator. However, the patent later moved out of AST to Intertechnology Global LLC.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals. The patent was transferred from the original operating company (Panasonic) to a known defensive aggregator (Grand Mesa, Series 57 of The Allied Security Trust I, as indicated by the correspondent Justin R. Jagminas of Unified Patents Inc. on reel 037471/0227). Subsequently, it was transferred out of the defensive aggregator to Intertechnology Global LLC (reel 041443/0083) and then to Swirlate IP LLC (reel 052506/0513), both of which are identified as known high-frequency plaintiffs by Unified Patents and use registered-agent addresses. The cascading transfers between these shell entities, combined with their known assertion activity, strongly indicate an NPE pattern.

Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/