Assignment history

Inventors

• Patrick Turley
• Eric White

The patent document does not explicitly state the inventors' employers at the time of filing. The inventors assigned their rights to Eric White and subsequently to Rocksteady Technologies, LLC on May 23, 2011, approximately one month after the filing date of the specific application (US13/092,488) on April 22, 2011. This rapid assignment post-filing is a common practice and does not inherently suggest a portfolio fire-sale in this context.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent US8397282B2 is RPX CORPORATION.

RPX Corporation's primary line of business is patent risk management, focusing on defensive patent aggregation to protect its member companies from patent assertions. It does not typically ship products embodying the claims of the patents it holds. RPX Corporation is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2011-05-23 (executed) / recorded 2011-05-24 — Reel 026779/0422

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: TURLEY, PATRICK
  • Assignee: WHITE, ERIC
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T DEAN, ESQ., 1000 BRIDGEWAY #222, SAUSALITO, CA 94965
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to co-inventor.

• 2011-05-23 (executed) / recorded 2011-05-24 — Reel 026779/0425

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: WHITE, ERIC
  • Assignee: ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T DEAN, ESQ., 1000 BRIDGEWAY #222, SAUSALITO, CA 94965. This correspondent also appears on the previous record.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's and co-inventor's combined interests to a private LLC.

• 2012-08-13 (executed) / recorded 2012-08-15 — Reel 029277/0038

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Assignee: RPX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: RPX CORPORATION, ATTN: LEGAL DEPT, 3450 SACRAMENTO STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118
  • Context: Acquisition of patent rights by a defensive patent aggregator.

• 2018-06-29 (executed) / recorded 2018-07-09 — Reel 039912/0357

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
  • Correspondent: JOHN M LANKENAU, REID & RIEGE PC, ONE FINANCIAL PLAZA, HARTFORD, CT 06103-3460
  • Context: Patent collateralized as part of a loan agreement.

• 2020-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2020-11-04 — Reel 045938/0394

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: RPX CLEARINGHOUSE LLC, RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: BARINGS FINANCE LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: CHARLES A BURNS, KING & SPALDING LLP, 1180 PEACHTREE STREET, NE, ATLANTA, GA 30309
  • Context: Patent collateralized as part of a loan agreement.

• 2020-10-26 (executed) / recorded 2020-11-09 — Reel 046011/0300

  • Conveyance: RELEASE
  • Assignor: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
  • Assignee: RPX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: JOHN M LANKENAU, REID & RIEGE PC, ONE FINANCIAL PLAZA, HARTFORD, CT 06103-3460. This correspondent also appears on the security agreement for Jefferies Finance LLC.
  • Context: Release of previous security interest.

• 2024-05-31 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-03 — Reel 050307/0861

  • Conveyance: RELEASE
  • Assignor: BARINGS FINANCE LLC
  • Assignee: RPX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: KEVIN D RUSH, AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP, ONE BRYANT PARK, NEW YORK, NY 10036
  • Context: Release of previous security interest.

• 2024-07-05 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-03 — Reel 050307/0858

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: NETSKOPE, INC.
  • Correspondent: KEVIN D RUSH, AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP, ONE BRYANT PARK, NEW YORK, NY 10036. This correspondent also appears on the previous release, suggesting they represent Netskope or Barings in these transactions.
  • Context: Sale of patent from a defensive aggregator to an operating company. (Note: The recording date precedes the execution date as documented in the USPTO record.)

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8397282
    2011 : Inventors assign to Eric White
         : White assigns to Rocksteady
    2012 : Rocksteady assigns to RPX Corp
    2013 : Patent granted to RPX Corp
    2018 : RPX Corp grants security int to Jefferies
    2020 : RPX Corp grants security int to Barings
         : Jefferies releases security int
    2024 : Barings releases security int
         : RPX Corp assigns to Netskope Inc
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from inventors (Patrick Turley and Eric White) to ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Reel 026779/0425, 2011-05-23) followed by the transfer to RPX CORPORATION (Reel 029277/0038, 2012-08-13) involves an LLC (Rocksteady Technologies) which, without further evidence of product development, appears to be a holding entity for the patent rights before transfer to a larger entity. RPX Corporation itself acts as a defensive aggregator, not a product-shipping entity for this patent. The final transfer to Netskope, Inc. is to an operating company.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. RPX Corporation is a known defensive aggregator (anti-NPE), not an asserter. None of the other assignees (Rocksteady Technologies, LLC, Jefferies Finance LLC, Barings Finance LLC, Netskope, Inc.) are listed as known NPEs or high-frequency plaintiffs in public databases at the time of this analysis.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

   • MICHAEL T DEAN, ESQ. (1000 BRIDGEWAY #222, SAUSALITO, CA 94965) appears on two consecutive assignments from the inventors to Eric White and then to Rocksteady Technologies, LLC (Reel 026779/0422 and Reel 026779/0425). This indicates a consistent legal representation for the initial transfers.
   • JOHN M LANKENAU, REID & RIEGE PC (ONE FINANCIAL PLAZA, HARTFORD, CT 06103-3460) appears on both the security agreement granted by RPX CORPORATION to Jefferies Finance LLC (Reel 039912/0357, 2018-07-09) and the subsequent release of that security interest (Reel 046011/0300, 2020-11-09), indicating representation for Jefferies Finance LLC in these transactions.
   • KEVIN D RUSH, AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP (ONE BRYANT PARK, NEW YORK, NY 10036) appears on the release from Barings Finance LLC to RPX CORPORATION (Reel 050307/0861, 2024-06-03) and the subsequent assignment from RPX CORPORATION to NETSKOPE, INC. (Reel 050307/0858, 2024-06-03), indicating representation likely for the acquiring entity (Netskope, Inc.) or the financial institutions involved in the releases.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers occur over several years: 2011 (inventors to Rocksteady), 2012 (Rocksteady to RPX), and 2024 (RPX to Netskope). The security agreements are financial transactions, not direct ownership transfers for assertion purposes.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to Netskope, Inc. was executed on 2024-07-05. The first identified litigation cases (4:25-cv-02360 and 3:25-cv-02360) were filed in the California Northern District Court in 2025, after the transfer to Netskope. The PTAB case IPR2026-00041 was filed in 2026.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. RPX Corporation, the assignor to Netskope, Inc., is an active operating company, not in bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While RPX's business model is defensive aggregation, the subsequent sale to Netskope (an operating company in cloud security) could potentially be a privateering arrangement if RPX retained some interest or influence over Netskope's assertion strategy. However, there is no direct evidence in the assignment records or public domain to confirm such an arrangement. Netskope itself is an operating company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Present. RPX CORPORATION, a known defensive aggregator, acquired the patent from Rocksteady Technologies, LLC on 2012-08-13 (Reel 029277/0038). This indicates the patent was initially acquired for defensive purposes. However, it was later sold to Netskope, Inc.

Verdict

Defensive / non-asserting (chain terminates at a defensive aggregator, with a subsequent transfer to an operating company).

The patent was initially acquired by RPX Corporation (Reel 029277/0038, 2012-08-13), a well-known defensive aggregator, indicating it was held to mitigate assertion risk for its members. RPX does not assert patents itself. The patent was subsequently transferred to Netskope, Inc. (Reel 050307/0858, 2024-07-05), an operating company. While litigation has been filed after this transfer, the primary pattern in the chain reflects a defensive acquisition by RPX.

Verification: USPTO Assignment Center for US8397282