Patent 8259688

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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Ownership chain (4)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2006-09-01 · reel 018041/0458 · Assignment

    BOURLAS, YAIR; GUMMADI, SRIKANTH; NEWHAM, ADAM E.; WANG, LEINEXTWAVE BROADBAND INC.

    Correspondent: · NEXTWAVE BROADBAND INC.

    Inventor assignment to a corporate entity.

  2. 2009-09-30 · recorded 2009-11-20 · reel 023887/0947 · Assignment

    NEXTWAVE BROADBAND INC.WI-LAN INC.

    Correspondent: · ROPES & GRAY

    Transfer from one operating company to a patent licensing company.

  3. 2017-06-20 · recorded 2017-08-01 · reel 040186/0733 · Merger

    WI-LAN INC.QUARTERHILL INC.

    Correspondent: · QUARTERHILL INC.

    Corporate merger and change of name, Wi-LAN Inc. became Quarterhill Inc.

  4. 2017-07-12 · recorded 2017-08-01 · reel 040186/0734 · Assignment

    QUARTERHILL INC.WI-LAN INC.

    Correspondent: · QUARTERHILL INC.

    Reassignment to the original name after a merger, likely for continued patent assertion by the known subsidiary.

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.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Yair Bourlas (likely employed by NextWave Broadband Inc. at the time of filing, based on the initial assignment)
  • Adam E. Newham (likely employed by NextWave Broadband Inc. at the time of filing)
  • Lei Wang (likely employed by NextWave Broadband Inc. at the time of filing)
  • Srikanth Gummadi (likely employed by NextWave Broadband Inc. at the time of filing)

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent, US8259688, was WiLAN Inc.. WiLAN Inc. is a patent licensing company (often considered a Non-Practicing Entity or NPE) whose primary line of business is the acquisition and licensing of intellectual property, rather than shipping products embodying the claims. WiLAN Inc. was acquired by Quarterhill Inc. in 2017, and subsequently, Quarterhill Inc. assigned the patent back to a subsidiary named Wi-LAN Inc.. As of the current date (May 29, 2026), Wi-LAN Inc. (a subsidiary of Quarterhill Inc.) appears to be operating and actively managing its patent portfolio.

Assignment timeline

  • 2006-08-31 (executed) / recorded 2011-08-16 — Reel 026214/0142
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: BOURLAS, YAIR; GUMMADI, SRIKANTH; NEWHAM, ADAM E.; WANG, LEI
    • Assignee: NEXTWAVE BROADBAND INC.
    • Correspondent: KOPPEL, JOHN G.; KOPPEL PATENTS, A P.C.; 555 ST CHARLES DRIVE SUITE 107; THOUSAND OAKS CA 91360
    • Context: Inventors assigned their rights to NextWave Broadband Inc. prior to the patent's filing.
  • 2009-09-29 (executed) / recorded 2009-10-09 — Reel 023348/0090
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: NEXTWAVE BROADBAND INC.
    • Assignee: WI-LAN INC.
    • Correspondent: WONG, PAUL R.; WI-LAN INC.; 2500-45 O'CONNOR STREET; OTTAWA, ONTARIO K1P1A4, CA
    • Context: NextWave Broadband Inc. assigned the patent rights to Wi-LAN Inc.
  • 2017-06-20 (executed) / recorded 2017-06-27 — Reel 039750/0091
    • Conveyance: Change of Name
    • Assignor: WI-LAN INC.
    • Assignee: QUARTERHILL INC.
    • Correspondent: MCDOWELL, RICHARD K.; QUARTERHILL INC.; 2200 - 45 O'CONNOR STREET; OTTAWA, ON K1P 1A4 CANADA
    • Context: Wi-LAN Inc. legally changed its corporate name to Quarterhill Inc.
  • 2017-07-12 (executed) / recorded 2017-07-19 — Reel 039750/0093
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: QUARTERHILL INC.
    • Assignee: WI-LAN INC.
    • Correspondent: MCDOWELL, RICHARD K.; QUARTERHILL INC.; 2200 - 45 O'CONNOR STREET; OTTAWA, ON K1P 1A4 CANADA. This correspondent also appears on the immediately preceding Change of Name filing.
    • Context: Quarterhill Inc. assigned the patent back to a distinct entity named Wi-LAN Inc., likely as part of an internal corporate reorganization within the Quarterhill group.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8259688
    2006 : Inventors to NextWave Broadband Inc.
    2012 : Patent issued
    2009 : NextWave to Wi-LAN Inc.
    2017 : Wi-LAN Inc. name changed to Quarterhill Inc.
         : Quarterhill Inc. to Wi-LAN Inc. (reorg)
    2013 : First infringement suit filed (6:13-cv-00519)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from NextWave Broadband Inc. to Wi-LAN Inc. (Reel 023348/0090, executed 2009-09-29) is a transfer to a known patent licensing entity. The subsequent internal re-organization where Quarterhill Inc. (the new name for Wi-LAN Inc.) transferred the patent to Wi-LAN Inc. (Reel 039750/0093, executed 2017-07-12) further indicates management within a corporate structure focused on patent assertion, rather than product sales.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Wi-LAN Inc. is explicitly listed as a known NPE. It appears as an assignee (Reel 023348/0090, executed 2009-09-29) and is the current assignee via internal re-organization (Reel 039750/0093, executed 2017-07-12). Quarterhill Inc., the current parent company, is also known for patent monetization.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Richard K. McDowell of Quarterhill Inc. is listed as the correspondent for both the Change of Name (Reel 039750/0091, recorded 2017-06-27) and the subsequent Assignment from Quarterhill Inc. to Wi-LAN Inc. (Reel 039750/0093, recorded 2017-07-19). This indicates a consistent legal representative for the NPE's internal transfers. Paul R. Wong was the correspondent for the earlier transfer to Wi-LAN Inc., also indicating in-house counsel for the NPE.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs in less than 24 months, with common correspondents or principals, beyond the internal re-organization within the Quarterhill/Wi-LAN group.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The initial assignment to Wi-LAN Inc. occurred in 2009 (Reel 023348/0090, executed 2009-09-29), while the first identified infringement suit was filed in 2013 (6:13-cv-00519). This gap is longer than 6 months. The later internal assignments in 2017 are also not within 6 months of the 2013 litigation.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. The assignment chain does not indicate any transfers as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding for the original assignee.
  7. Privateering — unclear. While Wi-LAN is a known NPE, the specifics of whether it asserts patents on behalf of operating companies against their competitors in a privateering arrangement are not evident from the assignment records alone.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of Wi-LAN Inc., a well-known patent licensing entity and NPE, as a key assignee in the chain (Reel 023348/0090, executed 2009-09-29) strongly indicates an NPE pattern. This is further supported by the internal corporate re-organization under Quarterhill Inc. where the patent was transferred back to Wi-LAN Inc. (Reel 039750/0093, executed 2017-07-12), and the consistent use of internal counsel (Paul R. Wong, Richard K. McDowell) for these transfers, signifying a dedicated patent monetization strategy.

Verification search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/8259688

Generated 5/29/2026, 8:54:22 PM