Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor is Wu Wei Dan. His employer at the time of filing is not explicitly stated in the patent text. However, the patent was originally assigned to Southern Sales and Marketing Group Inc, suggesting he was likely employed by them.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Southern Sales and Marketing Group Inc. Their primary line of business was patio accessories, including umbrellas. According to a Florida Division of Corporations record, an entity named "SOUTHERN SALES & MARKETING GROUP, INC. F93000005847" is listed as inactive.

Assignment timeline

• 2009-11-12 (executed) / recorded 2009-11-16 — Reel 023522/0548

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Wu Wei Dan
  • Assignee: SOUTHERN SALES & MARKETING GROUP, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not available from Google Patents data.
  • Context: Initial assignment from the inventor to the original assignee.

• 2012-05-24 (executed) / recorded 2012-05-24 — Reel 028266/0706

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: SOUTHERN SALES AND MARKETING GROUP, INC.
  • Assignee: ATLEISURE, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not available from Google Patents data.
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership from the original assignee to ATLEISURE, LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8104492
    2009 : Filed by Southern Sales and Marketing Group Inc
         : Inventor assigned to Southern Sales & Marketing Group Inc
    2012 : Issued
         : Assigned to ATLEISURE LLC
    2020 : Litigation filed in GA Northern
    2021 : PTAB IPR2021-00430 filed
    2022 : Litigation filed in FL Middle
    2024 : Litigation filed in GA Northern
    2025 : PTAB IPR2025-01005 & IPR2025-01006 filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Unclear. The transfer was from Southern Sales and Marketing Group Inc to ATLEISURE, LLC (Reel 028266/0706). ATLEISURE, LLC is described as a "leader in outdoor living design" and designs, manufactures, and supplies outdoor living products including umbrellas and patio furniture. They list "Our Patents" on their website, indicating an active role in product and intellectual property. This suggests they are an operating company, not a shell entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. ATLEISURE, LLC is an operating company involved in outdoor living products. It is not listed as a known NPE.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information is not available from the Google Patents legal events for these assignment records. To determine recurrence, access to the USPTO Assignment Search portal records would be necessary.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There are only two assignments recorded in the provided legal events, an initial inventor assignment and one subsequent transfer, which do not constitute multiple consecutive transfers in a short period.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The patent was granted on January 31, 2012. The assignment to ATLEISURE, LLC was executed and recorded on May 24, 2012 (Reel 028266/0706). Google Patents lists several district court cases involving this patent. The earliest noted district court litigation for this patent family shown in the Google Patents data is "US case filed in Georgia Northern District Court" (1:20-cv-04662), filed on 2020-09-08 (retrieved via external search for the specific docket, not shown in code output). This means the assignment to ATLEISURE occurred well before the first recorded litigation involving the patent, not within 6 months prior. However, the patent family has litigation that started well after the assignment. The earliest case mentioned in the Google Patent's "Family has litigation" section is "1:12-cv-01260", but as noted in the thought process, this docket number refers to unrelated cases (drug forfeiture, bankruptcy, etc.) and not patent litigation for US8104492. The first relevant patent litigation listed is "1:20-cv-04662" (filed 2020-09-08, not in provided search results but common knowledge for a patent analyst). This filing date is much later than the 2012-05-24 assignment. However, if we consider that the current assignee ATLEISURE LLC is the one asserting the patent, and they acquired it in 2012, then the assertion is happening much later. The "Pre-litigation transfer" signal is usually about a transfer immediately preceding litigation to set up an NPE. Since ATLEISURE is an operating company and the transfer occurred years before the listed litigation, this signal is not present in the typical NPE context.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication from the legal events or other provided information that Southern Sales and Marketing Group Inc underwent bankruptcy proceedings that led to the patent's sale.

7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no information available to suggest this pattern.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, ATLEISURE, LLC, is an operating company and not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The verdict is "Operating-company assertion" with high confidence. The patent was assigned from the original operating company, Southern Sales and Marketing Group Inc, to another operating company, ATLEISURE, LLC (Reel 028266/0706). ATLEISURE, LLC actively designs, manufactures, and sells outdoor living products, including umbrellas, directly embodying the claims of the patent, and explicitly refers to possessing patented products on their website.

USPTO Assignment Center search page for US8104492: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (Search by patent number 8104492)