Patent 7953411

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.

Active provider: Google · gemini-2.5-flash

Ownership chain (7)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

2005-08-18 · recorded 2005-09-06 · reel 016736/0271 · Assignment
CHION, MARY ZTE SAN DIEGO, INC.
Inventor's assignment of patent rights to an affiliated corporate entity.
? · recorded 2008-01-24 · reel 020412/0541 · Change of Name
ZTE SAN DIEGO, INC.ZIMAX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Corporate name change.
? · recorded 2008-01-24 · reel 020412/0550 · Merger
ZIMAX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.ZTE (USA) INC.
Transfer of ownership due to a corporate merger.
2012-10-01 · recorded 2013-01-11 · reel 029610/0713 · Assignment
ZTE (USA) INC.ZTE CORPORATION
Internal corporate transfer to the parent company.
2012-10-29 · recorded 2013-02-18 · reel 029825/0119 · Assignment
ZTE CORPORATION YARNTON TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Transfer of ownership from an operating company to a potentially licensing-focused entity.
2024-10-10 · reel 068868/0380 · Assignment
YARNTON TECHNOLOGIES LLC INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 194 LLC
Transfer of ownership to a known patent assertion entity (NPE).
2024-10-15 · recorded 2024-10-16 · reel 068920/0014 · Assignment
INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 194 LLC INTEGRAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Transfer of ownership from one NPE to another, which is the current asserting entity.

Assignment history

✓ Generated

Inventors

Mary Chion: Employed by ZTE USA Inc. at the time of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is ZTE USA Inc. ZTE is a major telecommunications equipment and systems company that ships a wide range of products embodying wireless communication technologies, including those related to OFDM and OFDMA. ZTE USA Inc. is a subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, which remains an active, operating company.

Assignment timeline

2005-08-18 (executed) / recorded 2005-09-06 — Reel 016736/0271
- Conveyance: Assignment
- Assignor: CHION, MARY
- Assignee: ZTE SAN DIEGO, INC.
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Inventor's assignment of patent rights to an affiliated corporate entity.
2005-08-26 (effective date) / recorded 2008-01-24 — Reel 020412/0541
- Conveyance: Change of Name
- Assignor: ZTE SAN DIEGO, INC.
- Assignee: ZIMAX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Corporate name change.
2007-12-18 (effective date) / recorded 2008-01-24 — Reel 020412/0550
- Conveyance: Merger (Assignment of Assignors Interest)
- Assignor: ZIMAX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
- Assignee: ZTE (USA) INC.
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Transfer of ownership due to a corporate merger.
2012-10-01 (executed) / recorded 2013-01-11 — Reel 029610/0713
- Conveyance: Assignment (Assignment of Assignors Interest)
- Assignor: ZTE (USA) INC.
- Assignee: ZTE CORPORATION
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Internal corporate transfer to the parent company.
2012-10-29 (executed) / recorded 2013-02-18 — Reel 029825/0119
- Conveyance: Assignment (Assignment of Assignors Interest)
- Assignor: ZTE CORPORATION
- Assignee: YARNTON TECHNOLOGIES LLC
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Transfer of ownership from an operating company to a potentially licensing-focused entity.
2024-10-10 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-10 — Reel 068868/0380
- Conveyance: Assignment (Assignment of Assignors Interest)
- Assignor: YARNTON TECHNOLOGIES LLC
- Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 194 LLC
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Transfer of ownership to a known patent assertion entity (NPE).
2024-10-15 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-16 — Reel 068920/0014
- Conveyance: Assignment (Assignment of Assignors Interest)
- Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 194 LLC
- Assignee: INTEGRAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
- Correspondent: Not explicitly provided in source text.
- Context: Transfer of ownership from one NPE to another, which is the current asserting entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7953411
    2005 : Filed by ZTE USA Inc
         : Inventor assigned to ZTE San Diego
    2008 : ZTE San Diego renamed Zimax Tech
         : Zimax Tech merged to ZTE (USA) Inc
    2011 : Patent Issued
    2013 : ZTE (USA) Inc assigned to ZTE Corp
         : ZTE Corp assigned to Yarnton Tech LLC
    2024 : Yarnton Tech assigned to IV Assets 194 LLC
         : IV Assets 194 LLC assigned to Integral Wireless Tech LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer
- Present: Transfer from ZTE CORPORATION (operating company) to YARNTON TECHNOLOGIES LLC in 2012 [cite: 2013-02-18 recorded, Reel 029825/0119]. Also, the final transfer to INTEGRAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES LLC, which is involved in litigation, suggests it is a licensing-only entity [cite: 2024-10-16 recorded, Reel 068920/0014].
Known asserter in the chain
- Present: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 194 LLC, a known patent assertion entity (NPE), became an assignee in 2024 [cite: 2024-10-10 recorded, Reel 068868/0380]. INTEGRAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES LLC, the current assignee, is also actively asserting this patent in the Texas Eastern District Court [cite: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US7953411](/patent/US7953411)/en (Litigation section)].
Repeat correspondent across the chain
- Unclear: Correspondent information is not explicitly provided in the source text for any assignment record.
Cascading transfers
- Present: The patent was transferred from Yarnton Technologies LLC to Intellectual Ventures Assets 194 LLC (executed 2024-10-10) and then, only five days later, to Integral Wireless Technologies LLC (executed 2024-10-15). These consecutive transfers occurred within a very short period in 2024 [cite: 2024-10-10 recorded, Reel 068868/0380; 2024-10-16 recorded, Reel 068920/0014].
Pre-litigation transfer
- Present: The most recent assignment to INTEGRAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES LLC was executed on 2024-10-15 and recorded on 2024-10-16 [cite: 2024-10-16 recorded, Reel 068920/0014]. Litigation cases citing this patent (e.g., 2:25-cv-00388, 2:26-cv-00028, 2:26-cv-00263) were filed starting in 2025. This transfer occurred within 6 months of the earliest known litigation filing date.
Bankruptcy fire-sale
- Not present: There is no evidence in the provided data suggesting the original assignee or any subsequent operating company in the chain filed for bankruptcy leading to a patent sale.
Privateering
- Unclear: While ZTE (an operating company) transferred the patent out of its direct ownership, there is no explicit information indicating that ZTE is directing or funding the current assertion activities.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE)
- Not present: The patent chain terminates at Integral Wireless Technologies LLC, an entity actively engaged in patent assertion, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment chain clearly exhibits multiple strong NPE signals. This includes transfers to known NPEs like Intellectual Ventures Assets 194 LLC [cite: 2024-10-10 recorded, Reel 068868/0380] and subsequently to Integral Wireless Technologies LLC, which is actively litigating the patent [cite: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7953411/en (Litigation section)]. The cascading transfers and pre-litigation timing further solidify this assessment [cite: 2024-10-10 recorded, Reel 068868/0380; 2024-10-16 recorded, Reel 068920/0014].

(Verification link: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/)

Generated 6/9/2026, 12:02:45 PM