Patent 7939967

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Daniel Humphrey (Hewlett Packard Development Co LP)
  • Amin Bemat (Hewlett Packard Development Co LP)
  • Reynaldo Domingo (Hewlett Packard Development Co LP)

No unusual patterns observed, such as all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

Hewlett Packard Development Co LP.
Hewlett Packard Development Co LP (now Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP) is a multinational information technology company that develops and markets various hardware and software products. It is an operating company.
Current status: Operating (as Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP).

Assignment timeline

  • 2009-06-22 to 2009-06-24 (executed) / recorded 2009-06-29 — Reel 022885/0820

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: Humphrey, Daniel; Bemat, Armin; Domingo, Reynaldo
    • Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    • Correspondent: HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY, 2055 GATEWAY PLACE, MS 1051, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES 95110
    • Context: Internal transfer from inventors to original assignee.

  • 2009-06-22 to 2009-06-24 (executed) / recorded 2009-07-02 — Reel 022907/0824

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: Humphrey, Daniel; Bemat, Amin; Domingo, Reynaldo
    • Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    • Correspondent: HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY, 2055 GATEWAY PLACE, MS 1051, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES 95110. This correspondent also appears on reel 022885/0820.
    • Context: Duplicate internal transfer from inventors to original assignee.

  • 2015-10-27 (executed) / recorded 2015-11-09 — Reel 037079/0001

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
    • Assignor: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    • Assignee: HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT LP
    • Correspondent: HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY, 11445 Compaq Center Dr. W, Houston, TX, US
    • Context: Internal reorganization / change of name.

  • 2021-01-15 (executed) / recorded 2021-01-26 — Reel 055269/0001

    • Conveyance: PATENT ASSIGNMENT, SECURITY INTEREST, AND LIEN AGREEMENT
    • Assignor: HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT LP; HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY
    • Assignee: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC
    • Correspondent: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC, 1603 ORRINGTON AVE SUITE 1600, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS UNITED STATES 60201
    • Context: Securitization or transfer to an escrow entity.

  • 2022-05-04 (executed) / recorded 2022-05-12 — Reel 060005/0600

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC
    • Assignee: VALTRUS INNOVATIONS LIMITED
    • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. ROSENBERG, LEE & HAYES, P.C., 601 W. RIVERSIDE AVENUE, SUITE 1400, SPOKANE, WASHINGTON UNITED STATES 99201.
    • Context: Transfer to asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7939967
    2009 : Filed by HPE Dev Co LP
         : Inventors assigned to HPE Dev Co LP
    2011 : Issued
    2015 : Assigned to HPE Dev LP
    2021 : Assigned to OT Patent Escrow LLC
    2022 : Assigned to Valtrus Innovations Ltd
    2024 : Litigation filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP to OT Patent Escrow, LLC (Reel 055269/0001) and then to Valtrus Innovations Limited (Reel 060005/0600) suggests a shell entity transfer. OT Patent Escrow, LLC is a single-purpose entity seemingly for holding patents, and Valtrus Innovations Limited, as discussed below, is a known NPE. The correspondent address for OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC is listed as "1603 ORRINGTON AVE SUITE 1600, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS UNITED STATES 60201", which could be a registered agent service.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Valtrus Innovations Limited is a known NPE. Unified Patents lists litigation associated with this patent family and Valtrus Innovations Limited.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The correspondent changes across the transfers. HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY for the initial inventor assignments, HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY for the HPE internal transfer, OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC for the transfer to the escrow entity, and MICHAEL T. ROSENBERG of LEE & HAYES, P.C. for the transfer to Valtrus Innovations Limited.

  4. Cascading transfers — present. The transfer to OT Patent Escrow, LLC (executed 2021-01-15) and then to Valtrus Innovations Limited (executed 2022-05-04) occurred within a relatively short period (approximately 16 months). This, combined with the nature of the assignees, indicates cascading transfers in furtherance of assertion. (Reel 055269/0001 and Reel 060005/0600).

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to Valtrus Innovations Limited on 2022-05-04 (executed) / 2022-05-12 (recorded) (Reel 060005/0600). The earliest litigation filed citing this patent listed by Google Patents is 2:24-cv-00535 in the Texas Eastern District Court, filed in 2024. While this is more than 6 months, it's worth noting that the transfer to an NPE occurred well before the litigation, suggesting a strategic move towards assertion.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of the original assignee, Hewlett Packard Development Co LP, filing for bankruptcy.

  7. Privateering — unclear. While the patent moved from an operating company (HPE) to an NPE (Valtrus), there is no readily available public information in SEC filings or reports explicitly stating that Valtrus is asserting on behalf of HPE or that HPE has retained a beneficial interest in the patent for the purpose of privateering.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The chain clearly demonstrates a transfer from an operating company (Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP) to a known NPE (Valtrus Innovations Limited) via an escrow entity (OT Patent Escrow, LLC). The presence of a known asserter (Valtrus Innovations Limited) and the cascading transfers shortly before litigation filings strongly indicate an NPE strategy.
USPTO Assignment Center search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/17/2026, 12:47:36 PM