Assignment history

Inventors

• Robert A. Lambourne: An early employee at Sonos. At the time of filing, he was an engineer at Sonos, Inc.
• Nicholas A. J. Millington: A founding member of the Sonos software team. At the time of filing, he was a software architect at Sonos, Inc.

There are no unusual patterns regarding the inventors. Both were foundational, long-term employees of the original assignee.

Original assignee

The original assignee is Sonos, Inc., a well-known public company that designs, manufactures, and sells multi-room audio products. The company was founded in 2002 and has shipped products that clearly embody the patent's claims, such as the ability to dynamically group speakers (zones) for synchronized playback and control their volume collectively. As of today's date, Sonos, Inc. is an active operating company.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO assignment records show a chain of ownership consisting entirely of the original assignment from the inventors to Sonos, Inc., followed by a series of security agreements where the patent was pledged as collateral for financing and subsequent releases of those interests. Sonos, Inc. has remained the beneficial owner throughout.

• 2004-06-04 (executed) / recorded 2004-06-05 — Reel 015340/0114

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Robert A. Lambourne; Nicholas A. J. Millington
  • Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
  • Correspondent: John D. Lanza, Fish & Richardson P.C., 225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
  • Context: Initial assignment from the named inventors to their employer, Sonos, Inc.

• 2006-05-18 (executed) / recorded 2006-05-24 — Reel 017830/0173

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: Sonos, Inc.
  • Assignee: Silicon Valley Bank
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 223 E. De La Guerra, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: Securitization, with Sonos pledging the patent as collateral for a loan from Silicon Valley Bank.

• 2010-02-18 (executed) / recorded 2010-02-26 — Reel 024037/0814

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: Silicon Valley Bank
  • Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 223 E. De La Guerra, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: Release of the 2006 security interest, returning full unencumbered title to Sonos, Inc.

• 2012-05-24 (executed) / recorded 2012-06-08 — Reel 028479/0130

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Robert A. Lambourne; Nicholas A. J. Millington
  • Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 614 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: A confirmatory assignment to clean up the chain of title, reaffirming the original 2004 grant.

• 2015-11-10 (executed) / recorded 2015-11-15 — Reel 036829/0109

  • Conveyance: Patent Security Agreement
  • Assignor: Sonos, Inc.
  • Assignee: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
  • Correspondent: Peter M. Werner, Cooley LLP, 101 California Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111
  • Context: Securitization, with Sonos pledging the patent as part of a collateral package for financing from JPMorgan Chase.

• 2016-03-30 (executed) / recorded 2016-04-01 — Reel 038089/0969

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: Sonos, Inc.
  • Assignee: Gordon Brothers Finance Company
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 614 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: Securitization, with Sonos pledging the patent as collateral to another lender.

• 2018-07-24 (executed) / recorded 2018-07-25 — Reel 045479/0816

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: Gordon Brothers Finance Company
  • Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 614 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: Release of the 2016 security interest held by Gordon Brothers.

• 2021-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2021-10-15 — Reel 062804/0002

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: Sonos, Inc.
  • Assignee: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 614 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: A new securitization agreement with JPMorgan Chase, likely for a new financing round or refinancing.

• 2021-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2021-10-18 — Reel 062837/0466

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
  • Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Sonos, Inc., 614 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  • Context: Release of the 2015 security interest, recorded shortly after the new 2021 agreement was filed.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7571014
    2004 : Inventors assign to Sonos Inc
    2006 : Pledged as security to SVB
    2009 : Patent Issued
    2010 : Security interest released by SVB
    2012 : Confirmatory assignment to Sonos
    2015 : Pledged as security to JPMorgan
    2016 : Pledged as security to Gordon Bros
    2018 : Security interest released by Gordon
    2021 : Security interest released by JPMorgan
         : Pledged again as security to JPMorgan

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Not present. The patent has remained with the original operating company, Sonos, Inc. All other assignees are well-known financial institutions in the context of security agreements.

2. Known asserter in the chain: Not present. The assignees (Sonos, Silicon Valley Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Gordon Brothers) are not on public NPE lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. The correspondents are Sonos's in-house legal department or its outside counsel (Fish & Richardson, Cooley LLP), which is standard practice for an operating company managing its own IP assets.

4. Cascading transfers: Not present. The transfers are separated by multiple years and are related to distinct financing events, not a rapid series of handoffs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Not present. Sonos, Inc., the original assignee and continuous owner, has asserted this patent in litigation against competitors (e.g., Google). The patent was not transferred to a third party for the purpose of litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present.

7. Privateering: Not present. Sonos is directly asserting its own patents.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The ownership history of US 7571014 is straightforward and shows no signs of NPE-related activity. The patent has been continuously owned by its original assignee, Sonos, Inc., a product company that practices the invention. The recorded assignments are exclusively standard commercial financing transactions (security agreements and their subsequent releases), which is a common practice for operating companies using their intellectual property as assets.

Verification link: USPTO Assignment Search for Pat. 7571014