Assignment history

Inventors

• Katsutoshi Ueno (Employer: Seiko Epson Corp at the time of filing)

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent US8319512 is Seiko Epson Corp. Seiko Epson Corp is a Japanese multinational electronics company, known for manufacturing printers, projectors, and other electronic devices, indicating that they shipped products embodying the claims. They are currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2010-03-05 (executed) / recorded 2010-03-12 — Reel 024072/0246

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: UENO, KATSUTOSHI
  • Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: NOT PROVIDED
  • Context: Original assignment from inventor to corporate entity

• 2019-07-25 (executed) / recorded 2019-08-28 — Reel 050197/0212

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
  • Assignee: 138 EAST LCD ADVANCEMENTS LIMITED
  • Correspondent: WILLIAM S. FROMMER, ESQ., FROMMER LAWRENCE & HAUG LLP, 275 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, 10016
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8319512
    2010 : Inventor assigned to Seiko Epson
    2012 : Issued
    2019 : Assigned to 138 East LCD Advancements

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from Seiko Epson Corporation (an operating company) to "138 EAST LCD ADVANCEMENTS LIMITED" strongly suggests a shell entity, especially given the name. [cite: 050197/0212]
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. While "138 EAST LCD ADVANCEMENTS LIMITED" may not be on all public NPE lists, its name and the litigation history associated with this patent (e.g., cases in Texas Eastern District Court and an IPR filing) are consistent with an asserting entity. The current assignee, 138 East LCD Advancements Ltd, is known to be an NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The initial assignment from the inventor did not list a correspondent. The subsequent assignment to 138 EAST LCD ADVANCEMENTS LIMITED listed William S. Frommer, ESQ., Frommer Lawrence & Haug LLP as the correspondent. This correspondent has not recurred in the provided chain.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There is only one transfer recorded after the original assignment from the inventor.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to 138 EAST LCD ADVANCEMENTS LIMITED on 2019-08-28 (recorded date). Google Patents indicates litigation in the Texas Eastern District Court with cases like 2:23-cv-00165 filed in 2023, and IPR2025-01413 filed in 2025. This transfer occurred well before the noted litigation, suggesting it enabled subsequent assertion. [cite: 050197/0212]
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of Seiko Epson Corporation filing for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. While the patent was transferred from an operating company (Seiko Epson) to a likely NPE (138 East LCD Advancements Ltd), there is no readily available evidence in the patent record or provided context to definitively confirm if Seiko Epson is actively directing or benefiting from the assertion efforts against its competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
This verdict is based on multiple strong signals: the transfer from an operating company (Seiko Epson Corp) to a likely shell entity (138 EAST LCD ADVANCEMENTS LIMITED) as shown in Reel 050197/0212, and the subsequent litigation history which is characteristic of an asserting entity. The transfer occurring several years before the reported litigation further supports the conclusion that the patent was moved to enable assertion.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/