Assignment history

Inventors

• Roy Shkedi: Founder and CEO of Almondnet Inc. at the time of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Almondnet Inc.

Almondnet Inc. was known for its work in behavioral targeting and online advertising, which aligns with the patent's focus on "Targeted television advertisements based on online behavior." Almondnet Inc. initially shipped products embodying claims related to online advertising technology. While Almondnet Inc. was the original assignee, its intellectual property, including this patent, was subsequently transferred to Intent IQ, LLC, which is described as having acquired intellectual property from AlmondNet, Inc. This suggests that Almondnet Inc. has either ceased operations, significantly restructured, or its core ad tech business was spun off, with Intent IQ LLC being the successor for its patent portfolio.

Assignment timeline

• 2007-04-17 (executed) / recorded 2007-05-18 — Reel 019253/0001

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: ROY SHKEDI
  • Assignee: ALMONDNET, INC.
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL BEST & FRIEDRICH LLP, 1000 WISCONSIN AVENUE, N.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20007-3608.
  • Context: Original assignment of patent rights from the inventor to the initial corporate assignee.

• 2011-09-21 (executed) / recorded 2011-09-22 — Reel 027376/0995

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: ALMONDNET, INC.
  • Assignee: INTENT IQ, LLC
  • Correspondent: WAHAB AND TEDDER, P.A., 2616 ENTERPRISE ROAD, SUITE 150, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA 33759. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership from the original operating company to a patent-holding entity.

• 2011-09-21 (executed) / recorded 2011-09-22 — Reel 027376/0996

  • Conveyance: LICENSE
  • Assignor: INTENT IQ, LLC
  • Assignee: ALMONDNET, INC.
  • Correspondent: WAHAB AND TEDDER, P.A., 2616 ENTERPRISE ROAD, SUITE 150, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA 33759. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: License-back agreement granting specific rights to the original operating company from the new patent owner.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7861260
    2007 : Filed & assigned to Almondnet Inc
    2010 : Patent issued
    2011 : Assigned to Intent IQ LLC
         : License back to Almondnet Inc
    2022 : First litigation filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was transferred from Almondnet Inc., an operating ad tech company, to Intent IQ, LLC, which is explicitly described as a "patent-holding ad tech company" and does not appear to ship products embodying the claims itself, but rather derives significant revenue from patent litigation. This transfer is evidenced by Reel 027376/0995, executed on 2011-09-21.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Intent IQ, LLC, the current assignee (Reel 027376/0995), is identified as a "patent-holding ad tech company" that earns significant revenue from patent litigation, with numerous district court and PTAB proceedings cited in the provided context.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. The correspondent WAHAB AND TEDDER, P.A. appears on two consecutive recordings (Reel 027376/0995 and Reel 027376/0996), both executed on 2011-09-21 and recorded on 2011-09-22, indicating a consistent legal firm handling the transfers for the acquiring entity.

4. Cascading transfers — present. Two consecutive transactions (an assignment and a license-back) between Almondnet Inc. and Intent IQ, LLC are documented as executed on the same date (2011-09-21) and recorded on the same date (2011-09-22) under Reel 027376/0995 and Reel 027376/0996.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The transfer to Intent IQ, LLC occurred in September 2011 (Reel 027376/0995), while the earliest identified litigation for this patent family in the provided context dates to 2022, which is more than 6 months after the transfer.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the provided information that Almondnet Inc. filed for bankruptcy, leading to the patent's sale.

7. Privateering — present. The transfer of the patent from Almondnet Inc. (an operating company) to Intent IQ, LLC, immediately followed by a license-back to Almondnet Inc. (Reel 027376/0995 and 027376/0996, respectively), is a strong signal of a privateering arrangement. This structure allows the former operating company to potentially continue using the patented technology while the patent-holding entity handles assertion against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current assignee, Intent IQ, LLC, is an active patent asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is justified by the presence of multiple strong signals, including the transfer from an operating company (Almondnet Inc.) to a known patent-holding asserter (Intent IQ, LLC) (Reel 027376/0995), the clear indication of a privateering structure with a license-back to the original assignee (Reel 027376/0996), and the recurrence of the same correspondent firm (WAHAB AND TEDDER, P.A.) for these key transactions. The subsequent extensive litigation by Intent IQ, LLC, as detailed in previous sections, further confirms its role as an NPE.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center search results for US7861260: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/