Assignment history

Inventors

Based on the patent document, the sole inventor is Myeong Joon Kang. The patent was filed on November 20, 2007. On the same day, an assignment was executed from the inventor to SANDISK CORPORATION, indicating SanDisk was the employer at the time of filing. There is no public record of the inventor departing the company shortly after filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee of record was SanDisk Corporation, which later became SanDisk Technologies LLC through internal reorganization. SanDisk was a major manufacturer of flash memory products, including memory cards and USB flash drives. The company designed, manufactured, and sold products that would have embodied the claims of this patent, which describes a memory card with both a Secure Digital (SD) port and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. SanDisk Corporation was acquired by Western Digital in 2016 and continues to operate as a brand under its parent company.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for US Patent 8,327,051 confirms the following chain of ownership:

• 2007-11-16 (executed) / recorded 2007-11-20 — Reel 020176/0369
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Myeong Joon Kang
  • Assignee: SANDISK CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: Stephen C. An, SANMINA-SCI LAW GROUP, San Jose, CA 95134
  • Context: Initial assignment from the inventor to his employer at the time of filing.
• 2011-04-04 (executed) / recorded 2011-05-13 — Reel 026276/0538
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: SANDISK CORPORATION
  • Assignee: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES INC.
  • Correspondent: SANDISK CORPORATION, Milpitas, CA 95035
  • Context: Internal reorganization transferring the patent between related corporate entities.
• 2016-05-16 (executed) / recorded 2016-05-25 — Reel 038809/0600
  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES INC.
  • Assignee: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: SANDISK CORPORATION, Milpitas, CA 95035
  • Context: A simple corporate name change for the patent-holding entity.
• 2024-08-12 (executed) / recorded 2024-08-15 — Reel 068301/0100
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Assignee: PALISADE TECHNOLOGIES, LLP
  • Correspondent: Jonathan R. Miller, THE LAW OFFICE OF JONATHAN R. MILLER, PC, Austin, TX 78746
  • Context: Transfer from the operating company's holding entity to a third-party assertion entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8327051B2
    2007 : Filed by SanDisk Corp
    2012 : Issued to SanDisk Tech Inc
    2016 : Name change to SanDisk Tech LLC
    2024 : Assigned to Palisade Tech LLP
         : Infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from SanDisk Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of the product company Western Digital, to Palisade Technologies, LLP (Reel 068301/0100). Palisade Technologies, LLP has no known products and its sole known activity is the assertion of this patent portfolio, as seen in the Palisade Technologies, LLP v. Micron Technology, Inc. litigation. This indicates a transfer from an operating company to a licensing-only LLC.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, Palisade Technologies, LLP, is an active patent asserter. It initiated litigation with this patent (Case 7:24-cv-00262, W.D. Tex.). While not as large as major public NPEs, its business model is patent assertion, making it a "known asserter" in the context of this patent's history.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. The correspondents for the internal SanDisk transfers were in-house counsel. The final transfer to Palisade Technologies, LLP was handled by a different law firm (The Law Office of Jonathan R. Miller, PC). There is no recurrence of a single correspondent across multiple transfers to different LLCs that would suggest a common operator.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The ownership chain consists of several internal reorganizations over many years, followed by a single, direct transfer to the asserting entity. There is no evidence of rapid, serial transfers through multiple shell LLCs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to Palisade Technologies, LLP was executed on August 12, 2024, and recorded on August 15, 2024 (Reel 068301/0100). The infringement lawsuit was filed approximately two months later on October 16, 2024. This timing strongly suggests the transfer was made specifically to prepare for and enable litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. SanDisk was acquired by Western Digital in a strategic transaction, not as a result of bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear. This pattern fits the classic model of privateering, where an operating company (Western Digital/SanDisk) transfers a patent to a third party (Palisade) to sue competitors (Micron) on its behalf, potentially sharing in the proceeds. However, without a public contractual agreement, this cannot be definitively confirmed.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent was transferred to a plaintiff entity for assertion, not to a defensive organization like RPX or LOT Network.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict is based on multiple strong, corroborating signals. The patent was transferred from its original owner, an operating company, to Palisade Technologies, LLP, an entity with no known products whose only activity has been litigation (Reel 068301/0100). Furthermore, this transfer occurred just two months before Palisade filed an infringement suit, demonstrating a clear pre-litigation transfer pattern intended to facilitate assertion. These two facts—a shell-entity transfer followed immediately by a lawsuit—provide high confidence that the patent is being wielded by a Non-Practicing Entity.

Verification Link: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US Pat. 8327051