Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor is Theodore S. Rappaport. The patent text does not explicitly state his employer at the time of filing, but the original assignee is listed as "Individual," suggesting he held the patent personally. The assignment to Massively Broadband LLC was handled by VIRGINIA TECH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES INC, indicating his affiliation with Virginia Tech.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on Google Patents, is "Individual." This indicates the patent was initially held by the inventor, Theodore S. Rappaport. As an individual, there is no product line, primary line of business, or corporate status to report.

Assignment timeline

• 2010-02-09 (executed) / recorded 2010-02-18 — Reel 045142/0034
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: RAPPAPORT, THEODORE S.
  • Assignee: MASSIVELY BROADBAND LLC
  • Correspondent: VIRGINIA TECH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES INC; 1880 TECHNO DRIVE, SUITE 1000, BLACKSBURG, VA 24060.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights from the individual inventor to an LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7676194
    2004 : Application filed by Individual
    2010 : Assigned to Massively Broadband LLC
         : Patent granted
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from the individual inventor, Theodore S. Rappaport, to Massively Broadband LLC. The assignee name "Massively Broadband LLC" itself, coupled with evidence of active patent litigation (IPR2026-00035 and a district court case 2:25-cv-00608 in the Texas Eastern District Court), strongly suggests it operates as a licensing-only or assertion entity rather than a product-shipping company.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Massively Broadband LLC is identified as an entity involved in litigation, specifically referenced in connection with an IPR case (IPR2026-00035) and a district court case in the Eastern District of Texas (2:25-cv-00608), via Unified Patents data on Google Patents. This indicates it is a patent assertion entity.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The only recorded assignment (Reel 045142/0034) lists VIRGINIA TECH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES INC as the correspondent. With only one assignment in the chain, there is no recurrence to observe within this specific chain.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one assignment from the inventor to Massively Broadband LLC is recorded in the provided timeline.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to Massively Broadband LLC occurred on February 9, 2010 (executed), well before the earliest reported litigation (2025-2026 for the district court case).

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no information to suggest the inventor or Massively Broadband LLC was involved in bankruptcy proceedings at the time of the assignment.

7. Privateering — Not present. The initial transfer is from an individual inventor, not an operating company, so this pattern is not applicable.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, Massively Broadband LLC, is actively involved in patent litigation, indicating assertion rather than defensive aggregation.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on the patent's transfer from an individual inventor to Massively Broadband LLC (recorded 2010-02-18, Reel 045142/0034) and the subsequent involvement of Massively Broadband LLC in multiple patent assertion activities, including an IPR challenge and a district court case in the Eastern District of Texas, as reported by Unified Patents. These factors strongly indicate that Massively Broadband LLC functions as a patent assertion entity.

(Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ - search for patent number 7676194)