Assignment history

Inventors

• Risto TUOMINEN (Employer at time of filing: Imbera Electronics Oy)

No unusual patterns were determinable; the inventor was the CEO and founder of the original assignee, Imbera Electronics Oy.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as named on the issued patent US7989944, was Imbera Electronics Oy. Imbera Electronics Oy was a Finnish company that developed advanced embedded electronics packaging technology and manufacturing solutions. This entity was acquired by GE Healthcare Finland Oy, in partnership with GE Idea Works (part of General Electric Co.), to expand GE's electronics packaging portfolio and intellectual property. This indicates Imbera Electronics Oy was an operating company that shipped products embodying the claims, or at least developed the technology for such products. Its current status is acquired/integrated into GE, and later the GE embedded computing unit was sold.

Assignment timeline

• 2009-12-16 (executed) / recorded 2010-01-20 — Reel 052853/0153

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: IMBERA ELECTRONICS OY
  • Assignee: GE EMBEDDED ELECTRONICS OY
  • Correspondent: MEI-CHU HUANG
  • Context: Acquisition of original applicant (Imbera Electronics Oy) by GE.

• 2020-06-04 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-05 — Reel 055745/0302

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: ACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLC, AMERICAN VEHICULAR SCIENCES LLC, BONUTTI SKELETAL INNOVATIONS LLC, CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT LLC, INNOVATIVE DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC, LIFEPORT SCIENCES LLC, LIMESTONE MEMORY SYSTEMS LLC, MERTON ACQUISITION HOLDCO LLC, MOBILE ENHANCEMENT SOLUTIONS LLC, MONARCH NETWORKING SOLUTIONS LLC, NEXUS DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC, PARTHENON UNIFIED MEMORY ARCHITECTURE LLC, R2 SOLUTIONS LLC, SAINT LAWRENCE COMMUNICATIONS LLC, STINGRAY IP SOLUTIONS LLC, SUPER INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGIES LLC, TELECONFERENCE SYSTEMS LLC, UNIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Assignee: STARBOARD VALUE INTERMEDIATE FUND LP, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Securitization of a large patent portfolio, involving multiple known Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) like Acacia Research Group LLC and R2 Solutions LLC, granting a security interest to Starboard Value.

• 2020-07-07 (executed) / recorded 2020-07-08 — Reel 056580/0172

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: STARBOARD VALUE INTERMEDIATE FUND LP, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Assignee: R2 SOLUTIONS LLC
  • Correspondent: ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C. (recurs)
  • Context: Release of security interest from Starboard Value to R2 Solutions LLC, confirming R2 Solutions LLC's ownership.

• 2020-12-29 (executed) / recorded 2020-12-30 — Reel 056580/0177

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: STARBOARD VALUE INTERMEDIATE FUND LP, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Assignee: R2 SOLUTIONS LLC
  • Correspondent: ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C. (recurs)
  • Context: Corrective assignment confirming the release of security interest to R2 Solutions LLC.

• 2021-03-24 (executed) / recorded 2021-03-29 — Reel 057973/0970

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: R2 SOLUTIONS LLC
  • Assignee: STARBOARD VALUE INTERMEDIATE FUND LP, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C. (recurs)
  • Context: Corrective assignment of the patent back to Starboard Value as collateral agent from R2 Solutions LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7989944
    2007 : Application filed
    2010 : Assigned to GE Embedded Electronics Oy
    2011 : Issued
    2020 : Security interest to Starboard Value
         : Interest released to R2 Solutions LLC
    2021 : Corrective assignment to R2 Solutions
         : Assigned to Starboard as collateral agent
    2022 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from GE Embedded Electronics Oy (an operating company) to entities like R2 Solutions LLC, which operates within the Acacia Research Group ecosystem, a known Non-Practicing Entity (NPE). The subsequent litigation activity further supports that these entities are not product manufacturers.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. ACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLC is explicitly named as an assignor in the 2020-06-05 security agreement (Reel 055745/0302), and R2 SOLUTIONS LLC (part of the Acacia ecosystem) is involved in subsequent assignments and releases (Reel 056580/0172, 056580/0177, 057973/0970). Acacia Research is a prominent NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. ROTHWELL, FIGG, ERNST & MANBECK, P.C. served as the correspondent on four consecutive assignment records (Reel 055745/0302, 056580/0172, 056580/0177, 057973/0970), handling transfers involving multiple shell entities (Acacia-related LLCs and Starboard Value as collateral agent).
4. Cascading transfers — Present. There were multiple transfers and security interest adjustments involving Starboard Value Intermediate Fund LP, as Collateral Agent, and R2 Solutions LLC within a ten-month period (June 2020 to March 2021, see Reel 055745/0302, 056580/0172, 056580/0177, 057973/0970). This rapid succession of transfers among financially-oriented entities is characteristic of an assertion strategy.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The flurry of assignments and security agreements occurred between June 2020 and March 2021 (Reel 055745/0302, 056580/0172, 056580/0177, 057973/0970). This timeframe directly precedes the first reported infringement suits for this patent, which were filed in 2022 (e.g., US case filed in Texas Eastern District Court (2:22-cv-00233)). This indicates the transfers were arranged to facilitate assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no evidence from the assignment records or general knowledge that Imbera Electronics Oy or GE Embedded Electronics Oy transferred the patent due to bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While the patent is in the hands of an NPE (Acacia-related entities), there is no explicit information to confirm that GE or Imbera specifically arranged for Acacia to assert this patent on their behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain involves known NPEs and ends with a collateral agent likely involved in monetization, rather than a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
This verdict is supported by the explicit presence of ACACIA RESEARCH GROUP LLC (Reel 055745/0302) and R2 SOLUTIONS LLC (Reel 056580/0172, 056580/0177, 057973/0970) in the assignment chain, both known Non-Practicing Entities. Furthermore, the numerous litigation records associated with this patent on Google Patents, coupled with the pattern of cascading transfers and pre-litigation transfers in 2020-2021, strongly indicate an assertion-focused strategy.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US7989944: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html?search=[7989944](/patent/7989944)