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.

Assignment history

Inventors

James D. Logan (Personal Audio LLC)
Daniel F. Goessling (Personal Audio LLC)
Charles G. Call (Personal Audio LLC)

No unusual patterns noted regarding inventors departing the original assignee.

Original assignee

Personal Audio LLC.

Personal Audio LLC's primary line of business appears to be patent licensing and assertion. Based on available public information, there is no indication that Personal Audio LLC shipped a product embodying the claims of US8112504.

Current status: Operating, as of its involvement in ongoing litigation.

Assignment timeline

There are no recorded assignments for US Patent 8112504 on the USPTO Assignment Center subsequent to its grant to Personal Audio LLC. The Google Patents entry indicates the original assignment to Personal Audio LLC occurred on 2009-06-27.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8112504
    1996 : Priority date
    2009 : Application filed by Personal Audio LLC
    2009 : Assigned to Personal Audio LLC
    2012 : Patent Granted to Personal Audio LLC
    2013 : Litigation initiated by Personal Audio LLC
    2016 : Anticipated expiration (fee related)
    2026 : Currently Expired - Fee Related

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer — unclear. The initial assignment to Personal Audio LLC in 2009 occurred prior to the patent's issuance in 2012. While Personal Audio LLC does not appear to manufacture products, the original assignee being a licensing-focused entity from the outset makes a "transfer from operating company to shell entity" an unclear signal.
Known asserter in the chain — present. Personal Audio LLC is identified as a known asserter (NPE) in multiple patent litigation databases.
Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. No assignment chain is recorded to show recurrence.
Cascading transfers — not present. No assignment chain is recorded.
Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While Personal Audio LLC initiated litigation in 2013, the patent was assigned to them in 2009. Therefore, there isn't a transfer within 6 months before litigation.
Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No indication of bankruptcy from the original assignee.
Privateering — unclear. There's no publicly available information indicating Personal Audio LLC is asserting this patent on behalf of an operating company competitor.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent has not been assigned to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The patent was originally assigned to Personal Audio LLC, a known patent asserter identified in litigation databases. Furthermore, there is no evidence of Personal Audio LLC manufacturing products embodying the claims, reinforcing its characterization as a non-practicing entity.

To verify, search US8112504 at the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Ownership chain (1)