Assignment history

Inventors

• Luc Vantalon - Employed by Digital Keystone Inc. at the time of filing (2004-12-07).
• Paolo Siccardo - Employed by Digital Keystone Inc. at the time of filing (2004-12-07).

No unusual patterns, such as inventors departing the original assignee shortly after filing, are determinable from the provided information.

Original assignee

Digital Keystone Inc. was the original assignee. Their primary line of business involved digital content protection and conditional access solutions. While a definitive product embodying the specific claims of US8291236 cannot be confirmed without deeper product analysis, their business focus aligns with the patent's subject matter. Digital Keystone Inc. was acquired by Videolabs, Inc. in 2023, as indicated by the assignment record.

Assignment timeline

• 2004-12-07 (executed) / recorded 2004-12-21 — Reel 015383/0365

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: SICCARDO, PAOLO, VANTALON, LUC
  • Assignee: DIGITAL KEYSTONE, INC.
  • Correspondent: KORY, JEFFREY A., FULWIDER PATTON LEE & UTECHT, LLP, 200 Oceangate Suite 1550, Long Beach, CA, 90802
  • Context: Original assignment of inventorship rights to the employing company.

• 2023-05-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-05-09 — Reel 041838/0989

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: DIGITAL KEYSTONE, INC.
  • Assignee: VIDEOLABS, INC.
  • Correspondent: SCHOX, PATRICK, 500 3rd Street, Suite 520, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership, likely as part of a portfolio acquisition.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8291236
    2004 : Assigned to Digital Keystone Inc
    2012 : Patent Issued
    2023 : Assigned to Videolabs Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer on 2023-05-05 (Reel 041838/0989) to VIDEOLABS, INC. represents a transfer to a licensing-only entity, as Videolabs, Inc. is identified as a patent assertion entity by Unified Patents.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. VIDEOLABS, INC. became the assignee on 2023-05-05 (Reel 041838/0989) and is identified as a patent assertion entity (NPE) by Unified Patents.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. The two recorded assignments have different correspondents: Jeffrey A. Kory of FULWIDER PATTON LEE & UTECHT, LLP (Reel 015383/0365) and Patrick Schox (Reel 041838/0989). No recurrence within this chain is observed.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one transfer is recorded post-issuance, not multiple consecutive transfers.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to VIDEOLABS, INC. was executed on 2023-05-05 (Reel 041838/0989). Multiple infringement suits naming this patent were filed in 2023 (e.g., US cases 6:23-cv-00641, 1:23-cv-01136, 6:23-cv-00640), with at least one (6:23-cv-00641) filed on 2023-07-28, less than three months after the assignment.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Digital Keystone Inc. was acquired, not involved in a bankruptcy proceeding.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While possible given the transfer to an NPE, there is no explicit public record (e.g., SEC filings) confirming a privateering arrangement between Digital Keystone Inc. and VIDEOLABS, INC.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, VIDEOLABS, INC., is identified as an NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on strong signals including the patent being transferred to VIDEOLABS, INC. on 2023-05-05 (Reel 041838/0989), an entity identified as a known Patent Assertion Entity (NPE) by Unified Patents. Furthermore, multiple infringement lawsuits against this patent were filed in 2023, with at least one filing date within three months of the assignment, indicating a pre-litigation transfer.

Verification link: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html?patent_number=[8291236](/patent/8291236)