Assignment history

Inventors

• Andreas Olsson: At the time of filing, likely employed by the original assignee, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB, in Sweden.
• Mårten Sundberg: At the time of filing, likely employed by the original assignee, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB, in Sweden.

There are no unusual patterns discernible from the inventors' status; they appear to be employees of the original developing company.

Original assignee

• Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL): A multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. As a major developer and vendor of mobile network infrastructure, software, and services, Ericsson was an operating company that almost certainly developed and shipped products and services (e.g., media delivery platforms for network operators) that could embody the claims of the patent. The company remains a major global technology provider.

Assignment timeline

• 2009-09-17 (executed) / recorded 2010-04-16 — Reel 024247/0213

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Andreas Olsson; Mårten Sundberg (the inventors)
  • Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
  • Correspondent: Roger S. R Rydin, Ericsson Inc., Plano, TX 75024
  • Context: Standard assignment of invention from employees to their employer.

• 2024-04-09 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-26 — Reel 068522/0499

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
  • Assignee: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
  • Correspondent: Christopher P. Singer, Rimon, P.C., 4 Embarcadero Ctr Ste 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111
  • Context: Transfer from the original operating company to a non-practicing entity for the purpose of assertion.

• 2024-04-08 (executed) / recorded 2025-02-13 — Reel 070226/0533

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
  • Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
  • Correspondent: David L. Fehrman, Perkins Coie LLP, 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900, Seattle, WA 98101
  • Context: Securitization; the original seller (Ericsson) records a security interest in the patent, indicating the sale to Novacloud was likely financed and the patent serves as collateral for the debt.

• 2025-04-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-04-18 — Reel 070888/0066

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
  • Assignee: NCLD1 LLC
  • Correspondent: Christopher P. Singer, Rimon, P.C., 4 Embarcadero Ctr Ste 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111. This is the same correspondent who recorded the initial transfer to Novacloud.
  • Context: Internal securitization within the NPE structure, likely part of a financing arrangement for its litigation campaign.

• 2025-04-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-04-24 — Reel 071033/0001

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
  • Assignee: NCLD1 LLC
  • Correspondent: Christopher P. Singer, Rimon, P.C., 4 Embarcadero Ctr Ste 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111. This is the same correspondent.
  • Context: A duplicate or related internal securitization, further reinforcing the financing structure for the assertion campaign that began in 2025.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8145721
    2007 : Filed by Ericsson inventors
    2010 : Assigned to Ericsson
    2012 : Patent issued
    2024 : Assigned to Novacloud Licensing LLC
    2025 : Security interest back to Ericsson
         : Security agreement to NCLD1 LLC
         : First infringement suits filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from an operating company, Ericsson, to "Novacloud Licensing LLC," an entity whose name explicitly suggests a licensing/assertion business model rather than product development (Reel 068522/0499).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, Novacloud Licensing LLC, is documented by industry trackers like Unified Patents as a non-practicing entity that began asserting a portfolio of patents acquired from Ericsson in 2024 and 2025.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Christopher P. Singer of Rimon, P.C. is the correspondent of record for the initial transfer to Novacloud Licensing LLC (Reel 068522/0499) and the subsequent security agreements to NCLD1 LLC (Reels 070888/0066 and 071033/0001). This recurrence demonstrates a common hand guiding the transactions for the assertion entity.

4. Cascading transfers — Present. The sequence of security interest and security agreement recordings between Novacloud, Ericsson, and NCLD1 LLC occurred in a short span between February and April 2025 (Reels 070226/0533, 070888/0066, 071033/0001), indicative of a complex financial structure being put in place to support a litigation campaign.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The key assignment to Novacloud Licensing LLC was executed in April 2024 (recorded June 2024) and the litigation campaign began in 2025, placing the transfer squarely in the pre-litigation window to establish the entity for assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The transfer was from the large, solvent operating company Ericsson.

7. Privateering — Present. An operating company (Ericsson) transferred a patent to a known NPE (Novacloud) that subsequently asserted it against others in the market. The security interest recorded in Reel 070226/0533, where Ericsson holds the patent as collateral, strongly suggests an ongoing financial relationship consistent with a privateering arrangement.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with a known asserter.

Verdict

• NPE — high confidence

The ownership chain of US 8145721 displays multiple, strong signals of a classic NPE assertion model. The patent was transferred from its original operating-company home, Ericsson, to a licensing-focused LLC (Novacloud Licensing LLC, per Reel 068522/0499) which is a known asserter. This transfer immediately preceded the filing of at least four infringement lawsuits in 2025. The pattern is further confirmed by the complex securitization agreements and the use of a single, recurring correspondent to manage the transactions for the asserting entity.

Verify the assignment records at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search portal by searching for patent number 8145721.