Assignment history

Inventors

• Donn Rochette: Co-founder and former CTO of Trigence Corp / AppZero. His role was central to the technology's development.
• Paul O'Leary: Co-founder of Trigence Corp / AppZero. Court filings identify an inventor notebook belonging to him, indicating a role in the original R&D.
• Dean Huffman: An original inventor associated with Trigence Corp / AppZero.

There are no indications of unusual departure patterns from the original assignee.

Original assignee

• Trigence Corp.: The entity named on the issued patent. It was a Canadian company founded in the early 2000s focused on application virtualization and migration software.
• Products: The company developed and sold software designed to encapsulate server applications and move them between different operating systems and cloud environments. An early product was called "Zapp."
• Primary Business: Software development, specifically in the area of application containerization, allowing legacy applications (e.g., on Windows Server 2003) to run on modern infrastructure without modification.
• Current Status: The company changed its name to AppZero Corp. in 2009 and later to Virtamove Corp. in 2018. It continues to operate and sells products like "V-Migrate," which embodies the technology claimed in the patent.

Assignment timeline

• 2004-09-15 (executed) / recorded 2004-09-21 — Reel 015821/0686

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Donn Rochette, Paul O'Leary, Dean Huffman
  • Assignee: Trigence Corp.
  • Correspondent: Marks & Clerk, Ottawa, ON, Canada
  • Context: Standard assignment of invention from inventors to their employer.

• 2009-03-02 (executed) / recorded 2010-11-08 — Reel 025287/0245

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: Trigence Corp.
  • Assignee: Appzero Corp.
  • Correspondent: Marks & Clerk, Ottawa, ON, Canada (recurring correspondent)
  • Context: Corporate name change reflecting the company's product focus.

• 2010-08-20 (executed) / recorded 2010-10-06 — Reel 025095/0106 (Corrected by Reel 025126/0481)

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Appzero Corp.
  • Assignee: AppzeroSoftware Corp. (later corrected to AppZero Software Corp.)
  • Correspondent: Marks & Clerk, Ottawa, ON, Canada (recurring correspondent)
  • Context: Internal corporate reorganization.

• 2015-09-04 (executed) / recorded 2015-09-21 — Reel 036611/0598

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: AppZero Software Corp.
  • Assignee: Comerica Bank
  • Correspondent: Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, Boston, MA, USA
  • Context: The patent was pledged as collateral for financing.

• 2018-08-02 (executed) / recorded 2018-09-21 — Reel 046938/0923 (Corrected by Reels 047157/0192 and 069631/0379)

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: Comerica Bank
  • Assignee: AppZero Software Corp.
  • Correspondent: Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, Boston, MA, USA (recurring correspondent)
  • Context: Release of the security interest, likely upon satisfaction of the associated loan.

• 2018-05-08 (executed) / recorded 2018-11-18 — Reel 047580/0009

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: AppZero Software Corp.
  • Assignee: Virtamove Corp.
  • Correspondent: Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP, Boston, MA, USA (recurring correspondent)
  • Context: A second corporate name change for the original operating company.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7784058
    2004 : Filed by Trigence Corp
    2010 : Issued to Trigence Corp
         : Name changed to AppZero Corp
         : Assigned to AppZero Software Corp
    2015 : Pledged as collateral to Comerica Bank
    2018 : Security interest released
         : Name changed to Virtamove Corp
    2024 : First infringement suits filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent has remained with the original operating company throughout its life, merely undergoing name changes (Trigence → AppZero → Virtamove). The current assignee, Virtamove Corp., actively sells products and services embodying the patented technology.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, Virtamove Corp., has been identified as a non-practicing entity (NPE) by Unified Patents. Starting in 2024, Virtamove initiated a widespread litigation campaign asserting this patent against major technology companies including IBM, Google, Amazon, and HP.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. The law firm Marks & Clerk of Ottawa, Canada, handled the initial assignment and the first name change. Subsequently, the firm Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP of Boston, MA, handled the security agreement, its release, and the final name change. The recurrence of these two firms across different stages of the patent's life indicates a consistent legal representation managing the asset.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers have been logical corporate steps (name changes, financing) spaced out over many years, not rapid, successive transfers between shell LLCs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The patent has been held by the same continuously-operating entity since its inception. No transfer occurred immediately prior to the litigation campaign that began in 2024.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no evidence that Trigence, AppZero, or Virtamove has undergone bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Virtamove is an operating company, its litigation campaign against numerous large cloud and containerization service providers could be viewed as a form of "offensive" assertion beyond direct competition. However, there is no public evidence of it acting on behalf of another operating company. The company itself describes its litigation targets as "giants" that have infringed its patents.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is being actively asserted. In fact, anti-NPE organization Unified Patents has filed for an ex parte reexamination of the patent in an attempt to invalidate it.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

Virtamove Corp., the current owner, is an operating company that developed and sells the patented technology. However, it also fits the description of a non-practicing entity (NPE) based on its recent, widespread litigation campaign launched in 2024 against major cloud providers like Google, Amazon, and IBM, years after the technology was first developed. This pattern is confirmed by its classification as an NPE by industry watchdog Unified Patents, which has challenged the patent's validity. While the ownership chain itself is clean and lacks typical shell company transfers, the owner's litigation strategy clearly marks it as an aggressive patent asserter.

A full record of the assignments can be reviewed at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search by searching for patent number 7784058.