Assignment history

Inventors

• Stéphane Bonnet: Likely employed by Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA), a French public research organization, at the time of filing.
• Pierre Grangeat: Likely employed by Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) at the time of filing.

No unusual patterns are observed regarding the inventors; it is common for inventors to assign their patent rights to their employer or research institution.

Original assignee

The original assignee of record from the inventors was COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE (CEA), a French public research organization. CEA focuses on research and development in areas such as energy, defense, and health technologies. It does not typically ship commercial products embodying the claims but is an operating research institution. CEA is currently an active, operating entity.

Note on Google Patents Discrepancy: While Google Patents lists "Intellectual Ventures Fund 23 LLC" as the "Original Assignee" and "Application filed by Intellectual Ventures Fund 23 LLC," the USPTO assignment records explicitly show the inventors, Stéphane Bonnet and Pierre Grangeat, assigning their interest to COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE on March 16, 2005, recorded September 1, 2005 (Reel 016709/0700). Intellectual Ventures Fund 23 LLC subsequently acquired the patent from CEA in 2008. Therefore, CEA is identified as the original assignee from the inventors.

Assignment timeline

• 2005-03-16 (executed) / recorded 2005-09-01 — Reel 016709/0700

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: BONNET, STEPHANE; GRANGEAT, PIERRE
  • Assignee: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE, FRANCE
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025-1026.
  • Context: Inventors assigned the patent application to their research institution/employer.

• 2008-01-09 (executed) / recorded 2008-01-24 — Reel 020403/0558

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES FUND 23 LLC, NEVADA
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025-1026. This correspondent recurs throughout the entire chain.
  • Context: Transfer from a research institution to a known patent assertion entity (NPE).

• 2015-06-23 (executed) / recorded 2015-07-28 — Reel 036192/0620

  • Conveyance: Merger
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES FUND 23 LLC
  • Assignee: XYLON LLC, NEVADA
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025-1026. This correspondent recurs.
  • Context: Internal reorganization or transfer within the Intellectual Ventures ecosystem.

• 2023-09-25 (executed) / recorded 2023-09-25 — Reel 065015/0562

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: XYLON LLC
  • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 195 LLC, DELAWARE
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD. 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025. This correspondent recurs.
  • Context: Internal reorganization within the Intellectual Ventures ecosystem.

• 2023-10-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-10-13 — Reel 065207/0371

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 195 LLC
  • Assignee: AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, TEXAS
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025-1026. This correspondent recurs.
  • Context: Transfer to another known patent assertion entity (NPE).

• 2023-10-06 (executed) / recorded 2024-03-26 — Reel 066911/0261

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Assignee: LONGHORN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP LLC, TEXAS
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025. This correspondent recurs.
  • Context: Transfer to the current patent assertion entity (NPE) actively litigating the patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8265353
    2004 : Application filed
    2005 : Inventors to CEA
    2008 : CEA to Intellectual Ventures
    2012 : Patent issued
    2015 : IV to Xylon LLC
    2023 : Xylon to IV Assets 195 LLC
         : IV Assets 195 to AI-Core Tech
    2024 : AI-Core Tech to Longhorn Automotive
         : Litigation initiated

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

   • INTELLECTUAL VENTURES FUND 23 LLC (Assignee in Reel 020403/0558): Known NPE operating as a licensing entity.
   • XYLON LLC (Assignee in Reel 036192/0620): Appears to be a holding entity within the Intellectual Ventures ecosystem.
   • INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 195 LLC (Assignee in Reel 065015/0562): Clearly a holding entity within the Intellectual Ventures ecosystem.
   • AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Assignee in Reel 065207/0371): A known NPE, identified by Unified Patents.
   • LONGHORN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP LLC (Assignee in Reel 066911/0261): The current assignee, actively litigating against automotive companies, and not known to produce products, strongly indicating a shell entity for assertion.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.

   • INTELLECTUAL VENTURES FUND 23 LLC (Assignee in Reel 020403/0558): Intellectual Ventures is a well-known patent assertion entity.
   • AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Assignee in Reel 065207/0371): Identified by Unified Patents as an NPE.
   • LONGHORN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP LLC (Assignee in Reel 066911/0261): Currently asserting the patent in multiple district court cases as detailed in the patent summary and litigation summary sections.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

   • The law firm BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP (with variations in address detail, all in Los Angeles, CA) is the correspondent of record for all six assignments: Reel 016709/0700, Reel 020403/0558, Reel 036192/0620, Reel 065015/0562, Reel 065207/0371, and Reel 066911/0261. This firm is recognized for handling assignments for numerous NPEs, including those associated with Intellectual Ventures.

4. Cascading transfers — Present.

   • Three rapid, consecutive assignments occurred in late 2023 / early 2024:
     • XYLON LLC to INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 195 LLC (executed 2023-09-25, recorded 2023-09-25, Reel 065015/0562).
     • INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 195 LLC to AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (executed 2023-10-05, recorded 2023-10-13, Reel 065207/0371).
     • AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC to LONGHORN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP LLC (executed 2023-10-06, recorded 2024-03-26, Reel 066911/0261). These transfers demonstrate rapid movement between different entities.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.

   • The assignment to Longhorn Automotive Group LLC was executed on 2023-10-06 and recorded on 2024-03-26 (Reel 066911/0261). Multiple infringement lawsuits against automotive companies (e.g., case 2:24-cv-00397) were filed in the Eastern District of Texas in 2024, closely following or coinciding with this transfer. This timing strongly suggests the transfer was made to facilitate patent assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. No evidence of any assignor filing for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While the current assignee is asserting against automotive companies, there is no direct evidence (e.g., public filings or reports) to suggest that an operating automotive company transferred the patent to Longhorn to assert on its behalf. The patent originated from a research institution and passed through the Intellectual Ventures ecosystem.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The ownership chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by an abundance of strong signals. The patent was acquired by the well-known NPE Intellectual Ventures Fund 23 LLC in 2008 (Reel 020403/0558). The chain exhibits multiple cascading transfers between various shell entities, culminating in the transfer to AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Reel 065207/0371) and subsequently to the current asserting entity, LONGHORN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP LLC (Reel 066911/0261), immediately preceding litigation. Furthermore, the same correspondent firm, BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, handled all six recorded assignments, a hallmark of centralized management typical of NPE operations.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US8265353