Assignment history

Inventors

• Mark A. Webster: Likely employed by Conexant Systems, Inc. at the time of filing, as he assigned his interest to Conexant Systems, Inc. with an effective date of 2005-05-02, just prior to the application's filing date.
• Michael J. Seals: Likely employed by Conexant Systems, Inc. at the time of filing, as he assigned his interest to Conexant Systems, Inc. with an effective date of 2005-05-02, just prior to the application's filing date.

There is no information to determine if inventors departed the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named as "Original Assignee" on the patent, according to Google Patents, is Intellectual Ventures I LLC. Intellectual Ventures I LLC is a well-known patent aggregation and licensing firm and is not known to have shipped products embodying the claims. Its primary line of business is patent acquisition, licensing, and assertion. Intellectual Ventures I LLC is currently operating.

However, the first recorded assignment (Reel 016535/0334) indicates the inventors, Mark A. Webster and Michael J. Seals, assigned their interest to Conexant Systems, Inc. on May 4, 2005 (recorded date) with an effective date of May 2, 2005. Conexant Systems, Inc. was a semiconductor company that shipped products in communication technologies, likely embodying claims related to OFDM/MIMO systems. Conexant Systems, Inc. was later acquired by Synaptics in 2017. The fact that Intellectual Ventures I LLC is listed as the "Original Assignee" while the inventors initially assigned to Conexant suggests an unrecorded transfer from Conexant to Intellectual Ventures I LLC prior to the application's filing, or Intellectual Ventures I LLC filed the application on behalf of Conexant before securing ownership.

Assignment timeline

The provided patent text does not include correspondent information for each assignment event.

• 2005-05-02 (executed) / recorded 2005-05-04 — Reel 016535/0334

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: WEBSTER, MARK A.; SEALS, MICHAEL J.
  • Assignee: CONEXANT SYSTEMS, INC., CALIFORNIA
  • Context: Inventor assignment to an operating company.

• 2006-11-13 (executed) / recorded 2006-11-22 — Reel 018711/0818

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: CONEXANT SYSTEMS, INC.
  • Assignee: BANK OF NEW YORK TRUST COMPANY, N.A., ILLINOIS
  • Context: Securitization of patent assets by Conexant.

• 2008-10-17 (executed) / recorded 2008-10-27 — Reel 021731/0807

  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
  • Assignor: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A. (FORMERLY, BANK OF NEW YORK TRUST COMPANY, N.A.)
  • Assignee: CONEXANT SYSTEMS INC., CALIFORNIA
  • Context: Release of security interest, ownership reverts to Conexant.

• 2008-10-16 (executed) / recorded 2009-01-02 — Reel 022043/0607

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: CONEXANT SYSTEMS, INC.
  • Assignee: XOCYST TRANSFER AG L.L.C., DELAWARE
  • Context: Transfer of patent asset from an operating company to a limited liability company.

• 2008-10-16 (executed) / recorded 2009-02-03 — Reel 022191/0595

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: CONEXANT, INC.
  • Assignee: XOCYST TRANSFER AG L.L.C., DELAWARE
  • Context: Further transfer from a Conexant-related entity to XOCYST TRANSFER AG L.L.C.

• 2011-07-18 (executed) / recorded 2011-07-22 — Reel 026637/0603

  • Conveyance: MERGER
  • Assignor: XOCYST TRANSFER AG L.L.C.
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES I LLC, DELAWARE
  • Context: Transfer of XOCYST's assets to a known patent assertion entity (Intellectual Ventures I LLC).

• 2024-10-10 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-10 — Reel 068866/0534

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES I LLC
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 199 LLC, DELAWARE
  • Context: Internal portfolio transfer within the Intellectual Ventures family.

• 2024-10-15 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-16 — Reel 068918/0916

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 199 LLC
  • Assignee: INTEGRAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES LLC, TEXAS
  • Context: Transfer to the current assignee, which is involved in litigation.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8139544
    2005 : Inventors assign to Conexant
    2006 : Conexant grants security interest
    2008 : Security interest released to Conexant
    2009 : Conexant assigns to Xocyst LLC
    2011 : Xocyst LLC merges into IV I LLC
    2024 : IV I LLC assigns to IV Assets 199 LLC
         : IV Assets 199 LLC assigns to Integral Wireless

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer

   • Present: XOCYST TRANSFER AG L.L.C. (Reel 022043/0607, 2009-01-02 and Reel 022191/0595, 2009-02-03) has a name structure indicative of a shell entity for asset holding. Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Reel 026637/0603, 2011-07-22) is a known patent aggregation and licensing entity, not an operating company. Intellectual Ventures Assets 199 LLC (Reel 068866/0534, 2024-10-10) is clearly named as an asset-holding shell. Integral Wireless Technologies LLC (Reel 068918/0916, 2024-10-16) also fits the pattern of a licensing-focused LLC given its lineage through Intellectual Ventures and documented litigation activity.

2. Known asserter in the chain

   • Present: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Reel 026637/0603, 2011-07-22) is a widely recognized patent assertion entity. The current assignee, Integral Wireless Technologies LLC (Reel 068918/0916, 2024-10-16), is documented in the patent's Google Patents legal status as having filed litigation in multiple US District Courts, confirming its role as an asserter.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain

   • Unclear: Correspondent information (attorney name, firm, address) is not available in the provided patent text for any of the assignment records.

4. Cascading transfers

   • Present: There are two consecutive assignments within a short period in 2024: from Intellectual Ventures I LLC to Intellectual Ventures Assets 199 LLC on 2024-10-10 (Reel 068866/0534), followed by a transfer from Intellectual Ventures Assets 199 LLC to Integral Wireless Technologies LLC on 2024-10-16 (Reel 068918/0916). This rapid succession of transfers between related LLCs is a strong indicator of NPE activity.

5. Pre-litigation transfer

   • Present: The last assignment to Integral Wireless Technologies LLC occurred on 2024-10-16 (Reel 068918/0916). The patent is noted as having litigation filed in Texas Western (7:26-cv-00121), Texas Eastern (2:25-cv-01152, 2:25-cv-00644), and Florida Southern (0:25-cv-62546) District Courts, with case numbers indicating filings in 2025 and 2026. This transfer occurred within 6 months of the earliest documented litigation, suggesting the patent was moved to the asserting entity in preparation for lawsuits.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale

   • Not present: While Conexant Systems, Inc. was eventually acquired, the assignments in the chain are not explicitly tied to bankruptcy proceedings or fire sales.

7. Privateering

   • Unclear: There is no direct evidence in the provided data to suggest that Conexant Systems, Inc. transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE)

   • Not present: The assignment chain culminates in an entity engaged in patent assertion, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment chain demonstrates multiple strong signals for NPE activity. These include the direct transfer to a known NPE, Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Reel 026637/0603, 2011-07-22), subsequent rapid cascading transfers between shell entities (Reel 068866/0534 and 068918/0916 in October 2024), and a clear pre-litigation transfer to the current asserting entity, Integral Wireless Technologies LLC, immediately preceding documented district court litigation in 2025 and 2026.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US8139544