Assignment history

Inventors

• Jason Caulkins (Dataram Inc. at the time of filing)

Original assignee

Dataram Inc. was the original assignee. Dataram Inc. was known for providing high-performance memory products. The company has since been acquired; it was acquired by CentriLogic in 2019.

Assignment timeline

• 2008-05-02 (executed) / recorded 2008-06-26 — Reel 021155/0059

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: CAULKINS, JASON
  • Assignee: DATARAM, INC.
  • Correspondent: NOT RECORDED
  • Context: Original assignment from inventor to initial assignee

• 2008-05-02 (executed) / recorded 2012-05-31 — Reel 028306/0622

  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: CAULKINS, JASON
  • Assignee: DATARAM CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: NOT RECORDED
  • Context: Corrective assignment to update assignee's name from Dataram, Inc. to Dataram Corporation.

• 2012-03-29 (executed) / recorded 2012-05-31 — Reel 028295/0763

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: DATARAM CORPORATION
  • Assignee: PHAN TIA GROUP PTE. LLC
  • Correspondent: Andrew D. Skudin, GRUNER & SKUDIN, P.C., 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Ste. 402, Garden City, NY 11530. This correspondent also appears as correspondent on Reel 037393/0030, which is flagged below.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights.

• 2015-08-26 (executed) / recorded 2015-12-31 — Reel 037393/0030

  • Conveyance: Merger
  • Assignor: PHAN TIA GROUP PTE. LLC
  • Assignee: NYTELL SOFTWARE LLC
  • Correspondent: Andrew D. Skudin, GRUNER & SKUDIN, P.C., 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Ste. 402, Garden City, NY 11530. This correspondent also appears as correspondent on Reel 028295/0763, which is flagged above.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights due to merger.

• 2021-06-09 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-09 — Reel 056487/0659

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: NYTELL SOFTWARE LLC
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES II LLC
  • Correspondent: Andrew D. Skudin, GRUNER & SKUDIN, P.C., 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Ste. 402, Garden City, NY 11530. This correspondent also appears as correspondent on Reel 028295/0763 and Reel 037393/0030, which are flagged above.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights to a known NPE.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US7882320
    2008 : Filed by Dataram Inc
    2011 : Issued
    2012 : Assigned to Phan Tia Group
    2015 : Merged to Nytell Software LLC
    2021 : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures II LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. Phan Tia Group Pte. LLC and Nytell Software LLC both appear to be shell entities, acting as intermediaries before the patent reached Intellectual Ventures II LLC. The name "Nytell Software LLC" does not suggest a product-shipping company, and the chain terminates at a known NPE.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Intellectual Ventures II LLC is a known NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Andrew D. Skudin of Gruner & Skudin, P.C. appears as the correspondent for the assignments to Phan Tia Group Pte. LLC (Reel 028295/0763), Nytell Software LLC (Reel 037393/0030), and Intellectual Ventures II LLC (Reel 056487/0659). This indicates a recurring legal representative across transfers involving known NPE entities.
4. Cascading transfers — present. There are three consecutive assignments within a relatively short period (2012 to 2021) from Dataram Corporation to Phan Tia Group, then to Nytell Software, and finally to Intellectual Ventures II LLC. The consistent correspondent (Andrew D. Skudin) also points to a coordinated series of transfers.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While there is litigation associated with this patent (IPR2022-00116 filed, US case filed in Texas Western District Court), the specific dates of the first infringement suit are not provided, making it unclear if any assignment immediately preceded litigation.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. The assignments do not indicate a bankruptcy proceeding of Dataram Inc.
7. Privateering — unclear. There's no explicit information in the provided data suggesting that Dataram Inc. transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Intellectual Ventures II LLC, which is a known NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of a known asserter (Intellectual Ventures II LLC per Reel 056487/0659), the strong indication of shell-entity transfers to intermediaries (Phan Tia Group PTE. LLC, Nytell Software LLC per Reel 028295/0763 and Reel 037393/0030), and the consistent use of the same correspondent attorney across these transfers (Andrew D. Skudin on Reels 028295/0763, 037393/0030, and 056487/0659) collectively point to a high-confidence NPE pattern.

Verification on USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (Search for patent number US7882320).