Patent 8019332

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.

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Inventors

  • Dae Won Lee: LG Electronics Inc.
  • Ki Jun Kim: LG Electronics Inc.
  • Dong Wook Roh: LG Electronics Inc.
  • Yu Jin Noh: LG Electronics Inc.
  • Joon Kui Ahn: LG Electronics Inc.
  • Jung Hoon Lee: LG Electronics Inc.

No unusual patterns were determinable from the provided information regarding inventors departing the original assignee.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is LG Electronics Inc. They are a multinational electronics company that ships a wide range of products, including mobile communication devices, which would embody the claims of this patent. LG Electronics Inc. is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

  • 2010-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2010-12-09 — Reel 025587/0936

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: Ahn, Joon Kui; Kim, Ki Jun; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Jung Hoon; Noh, Yu Jin; Roh, Dong Wook (the inventors)
    • Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    • Correspondent: LG Electronics Inc., 221 Mount Airy Rd, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
    • Context: Internal reorg (assignment from inventors to original corporate assignee)

  • 2013-12-16 (executed) / recorded 2013-12-20 — Reel 031086/0770

    • Conveyance: Lien (Security Interest)
    • Assignor: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: HIGHBRIDGE PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES, LLC (AS COLLATERAL AGENT)
    • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Securitization (patent used as collateral for a loan)

  • 2014-02-05 (executed) / recorded 2014-02-06 — Reel 031448/0396

    • Conveyance: Security Agreement
    • Assignor: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (AS COLLATERAL AGENT)
    • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Securitization (additional security interest)

  • 2014-02-18 (executed) / recorded 2014-02-23 — Reel 031448/0394

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: LG ELECTRONICS, INC.
    • Assignee: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer-to-asserter (sale of patent from operating company to an entity known for patent assertion)

  • 2014-04-29 (executed) / recorded 2014-04-30 — Reel 031766/0937

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: HIGHBRIDGE PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
    • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Securitization (transfer of security interest to collateral agent)

  • 2014-07-07 (executed) / recorded 2014-07-08 — Reel 032219/0091

    • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
    • Assignor: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: HIGHBRIDGE PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
    • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Correction (correction to previous security interest record)

  • 2016-07-15 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-15 — Reel 036329/0352

    • Conveyance: Release By Secured Party
    • Assignor: HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC
    • Assignee: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Correspondent: Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Release of Security Interest (security interest held by HPS Investment Partners, LLC is released)

  • 2023-01-20 (executed) / recorded 2023-01-20 — Reel 063717/0458

    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC
    • Assignee: HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS LLC
    • Correspondent: FISH & RICHARDSON, P.C., P.O. BOX 1022, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022
    • Context: Transfer-to-asserter (transfer from one asserting entity to another, potentially for portfolio management or further securitization)

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8019332
    2010 : Filed by LG Electronics Inc
    2011 : Issued
    2013 : Lien to Highbridge
    2014 : Security Agreement Wilmington Trust
         : Assigned to Optis Cellular
         : Assignment to Highbridge
         : Corrective Assignment to Highbridge
    2016 : Release from HPS Investment
    2023 : Assigned to HPS Investment

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

    • Reel 031448/0394, executed 2014-02-18 / recorded 2014-02-23: LG ELECTRONICS, INC. assigned to OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC. Optis Cellular Technology, LLC is known as a licensing and assertion entity. Its name "Cellular Technology" suggests a focus on patent licensing.
    • Reel 063717/0458, executed 2023-01-20 / recorded 2023-01-20: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC assigned to HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS LLC. HPS Investment Partners LLC, by its name "Investment Partners", is likely a financial entity rather than a product-shipping company, indicating a further shell-entity involvement in the patent ownership chain.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.

    • Reel 031448/0394, executed 2014-02-18 / recorded 2014-02-23: OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC is a known patent assertion entity (PAE) / NPE.
    • The patent's Google Patents entry lists "HPS Investment Partners LLC" as the current assignee. HPS Investment Partners, LLC is a global investment firm, suggesting its involvement in patent ownership is likely for assertion or licensing purposes rather than product manufacturing.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

    • Ropes & Gray LLP, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036 appears as the correspondent on multiple recordings for this patent:
    • This recurrence of Ropes & Gray LLP for a series of assignments involving entities like Optis Cellular Technology, LLC and Highbridge Principal Strategies, LLC (a collateral agent) is a strong signal of a consistent legal representative for what appears to be an assertion-oriented ownership structure.

  4. Cascading transfers — Present.

    • Multiple transfers occur in quick succession during 2013-2014, specifically involving securitization (liens/security agreements) and the transfer from LG Electronics Inc. to Optis Cellular Technology, LLC, with Ropes & Gray LLP acting as correspondent throughout.
    • This rapid series of transactions, particularly the initial transfer to Optis and subsequent collateral arrangements, strongly suggests a structured process for patent monetization.

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.

    • The assignment to OPTIS CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY, LLC occurred on 2014-02-18 (executed) / recorded 2014-02-23 (Reel 031448/0394).
    • The earliest litigation case listed for this patent is 2:16-cv-00058 filed in Texas Eastern District Court, indicating litigation commenced in 2016. While not within 6 months of the first litigation listed (due to the 2016 date), the transfer to a known NPE in 2014, well before the 2016 litigation, strongly suggests preparation for assertion. More direct pre-litigation transfers would be needed to confirm this specific signal for the 2016 suits, but the overall pattern is indicative. Self-correction: The provided litigation summary does not include specific filing dates for the 2016 cases, making it difficult to precisely confirm a <6 month window. However, the transfer to Optis Cellular Technology, LLC in 2014 predates the 2016 litigation, suggesting a preparatory phase for assertion.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. No evidence of the original assignee, LG Electronics Inc., filing for bankruptcy and selling patents.

  7. Privateering — Unclear. While LG Electronics Inc. transferred the patent to Optis Cellular Technology, LLC, there is no explicit information in the provided snippets (SEC filings or news coverage) to confirm this transfer was specifically for assertion on LG's behalf against its competitors.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with HPS Investment Partners LLC, which is an investment firm and not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the transfer from an operating company (LG Electronics Inc.) to a known patent assertion entity (Optis Cellular Technology, LLC) as recorded on Reel 031448/0394 (2014-02-23), the subsequent involvement of financial entities (Highbridge Principal Strategies, LLC and HPS Investment Partners LLC) in securitization and ultimate ownership, and the repeated appearance of Ropes & Gray LLP as the correspondent across multiple assignments in the chain, indicating a consistent legal strategy for patent monetization. These factors collectively point to a sophisticated patent assertion operation.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US8019332


Citations

Unified Patents. (n.d.). Optis Cellular Technology, LLC. Retrieved from https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/entities/OPTIS%20CELLULAR%20TECHNOLOGY,%20LLC (Accessed 2026-05-29).
RPX Corporation. (n.d.). Optis Cellular Technology, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.rpxcorp.com/litigation-analytics/entity/optis-cellular-technology-llc (Accessed 2026-05-29).

Generated 5/29/2026, 8:53:16 PM