Patent 7940851

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

  • Jinsong Duan (Panasonic Corp)
  • Keisuke Ebiko (Panasonic Corp)
  • Ryohei Kimura (Panasonic Corp)

There are no unusual patterns suggesting the inventors departed the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

Panasonic Corp. is a multinational electronics corporation that manufactures a wide range of products. The patent pertains to radio communication apparatus and methods, which aligns with Panasonic's business in telecommunications and electronics. Panasonic Corp. is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

  • 2008-11-13 (executed) / recorded 2009-01-20 — Reel 022137/0458
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: DUAN, JINSONG, EBIKO, KEISUKE, KIMURA, RYOHEI
    • Assignee: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    • Correspondent: BROWDY AND NEIMARK, P.L.L.C.
    • Context: Internal transfer from inventors to original corporate assignee.
  • 2013-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2014-01-24 — Reel 031447/0663
    • Conveyance: Security Agreement
    • Assignor: OPTIS WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: HIGHBRIDGE PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
    • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP, Attn: Intellectual Property Group, ONE LOGAN SQUARE, 130 N. 18TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA United States
    • Context: Securitization agreement by Optis Wireless Technology LLC.
  • 2014-02-14 (executed) / recorded 2014-02-23 — Reel 031649/0569
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    • Assignee: OPTIS WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP, ONE LOGAN SQUARE, 130 N. 18TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA United States. This correspondent also appears on reel 031447/0663.
    • Context: Transfer to a likely licensing entity.
  • 2014-03-07 (executed) / recorded 2014-03-12 — Reel 031754/0149
    • Conveyance: Security Interest
    • Assignor: OPTIS WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
    • Correspondent: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, 1100 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE United States
    • Context: Securitization agreement by Optis Wireless Technology LLC.
  • 2016-07-06 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-15 — Reel 037568/0871
    • Conveyance: Release
    • Assignor: HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC
    • Assignee: OPTIS WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Correspondent: HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP, 555 THIRTEENTH STREET, NW, WASHINGTON, DC United States
    • Context: Release of security interest from HPS Investment Partners, LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7940851
    2006 : Filed
    2008 : Assigned to Panasonic Corp
    2011 : Issued
    2013 : Securitization by Optis
    2014 : Assigned to Optis Wireless Technology
         : Securitization by Optis
    2016 : Release of security interest

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from Panasonic Corp. to Optis Wireless Technology, LLC (Reel 031649/0569) suggests a shell entity. Optis Wireless Technology, LLC is known as a non-practicing entity involved in patent litigation.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Optis Wireless Technology LLC is a known Non-Practicing Entity (NPE).
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Blank Rome LLP appears as the correspondent for both security agreements involving Optis Wireless Technology, LLC (Reel 031447/0663 and Reel 031649/0569).
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are not multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs within a short timeframe.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the transfer to Optis Wireless Technology LLC occurred in February 2014, and litigation involving this patent was filed in Texas Eastern District Court (case 2:17-cv-00123), the exact date of the first infringement suit needs to be confirmed to determine if it falls within 6 months of the transfer.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Panasonic Corp. was not in bankruptcy proceedings at the time of the transfer.
  7. Privateering — unclear. While Panasonic transferred the patent to Optis, there's no explicit evidence in the provided data to confirm a privateering arrangement where Optis is asserting on Panasonic's behalf against competitors.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of Optis Wireless Technology, LLC, a known Non-Practicing Entity, as an assignee (Reel 031649/0569), coupled with the repeated correspondent attorney (Blank Rome LLP) on related security agreements, strongly indicates an NPE assertion pattern. Further, the patent has been involved in litigation.

Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/29/2026, 8:50:01 PM