Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor is Christopher Alan White. [cite: The full patent text confirms this information] There is no information provided regarding his employer at the time of filing or any unusual departure patterns.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Alcatel Lucent SAS. [cite: The full patent text confirms this information] Alcatel Lucent SAS was a multinational telecommunications equipment company. The provided text does not explicitly state whether Alcatel Lucent SAS shipped a product embodying the claims. Alcatel-Lucent was acquired by Nokia in 2016 and its operations were integrated into Nokia.

Assignment timeline

The following assignments are reconstructed from the "Legal Events" section of the provided patent text. Correspondent information is not available from the Google Patents legal events.

• 2010-01-11 (executed) / recorded 2010-03-16 — Reel 024087/0610
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: WHITE, CHRISTOPHER ALAN
  • Assignee: ALCATEL-LUCENT USA INC., NEW JERSEY
  • Context: Internal transfer of inventor's interest to a US subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent.
• 2013-01-30 (executed) / recorded 2013-01-30 — Reel 029821/0001
  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: ALCATEL LUCENT
  • Assignee: CREDIT SUISSE AG, NEW YORK
  • Context: Securitization of assets, likely as collateral for financing.
• 2013-03-11 (executed) / recorded 2013-03-13 — Reel 029980/0677
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ALCATEL-LUCENT USA INC.
  • Assignee: ALCATEL LUCENT, FRANCE
  • Context: Internal re-transfer within the Alcatel-Lucent corporate structure.
• 2014-08-19 (executed) / recorded 2014-09-30 — Reel 033868/0555
  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
  • Assignor: CREDIT SUISSE AG
  • Assignee: ALCATEL LUCENT, FRANCE
  • Context: Release of security interest held by Credit Suisse AG.
• 2019-11-26 (executed) / recorded 2020-04-10 — Reel 052372/0675
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ALCATEL LUCENT
  • Assignee: WSOU INVESTMENTS, LLC, CALIFORNIA
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership from an operating company to a likely non-practicing entity.
• 2021-05-28 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-01 — Reel 056990/0081
  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: WSOU INVESTMENTS, LLC
  • Assignee: OT WSOU TERRIER HOLDINGS, LLC, CALIFORNIA
  • Context: Securitization or further internal transfer within the WSOU entity structure.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8441721
    2009 : Filed by Alcatel Lucent SAS
    2010 : Assigned to Alcatel-Lucent USA
    2013 : Security agreement Credit Suisse
         : Assigned to Alcatel Lucent
         : Patent issued
    2014 : Release by Credit Suisse
    2019 : Assigned to WSOU Investments LLC
    2021 : Security interest OT WSOU Terrier
    2025 : PTAB IPR filed (settled)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from Alcatel Lucent to WSOU INVESTMENTS, LLC (Reel 052372/0675, 2019-11-26 / 2020-04-10) and then to OT WSOU TERRIER HOLDINGS, LLC (Reel 056990/0081, 2021-05-28 / 2021-06-01) exhibits characteristics of shell entity transfers. WSOU Investments LLC is a known patent monetizer, and the subsequent entity name "Terrier Holdings" further suggests a special-purpose vehicle. The involvement of Unified Patents as a petitioner against WSOU Investments LLC in IPR2025-00241 supports the characterization of WSOU as a licensing-only entity. [cite: The full patent text confirms the assignee names and the PTAB IPR details]
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. WSOU Investments LLC is the current assignee [cite: The full patent text confirms this information] and has been identified as a defendant in an IPR petition filed by Unified Patents (IPR2025-00241) [cite: The full patent text confirms this information]. Unified Patents explicitly targets Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs), indicating WSOU Investments LLC is a known patent asserter.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information (attorney name, firm, address) is not available from the provided Google Patents legal events. A search on the USPTO Assignment Center would be required to identify this pattern.
4. Cascading transfers — Present. The assignment to WSOU INVESTMENTS, LLC (effective 2019-11-26) followed by a security interest involving OT WSOU TERRIER HOLDINGS, LLC (effective 2021-05-28) occurred within approximately 18 months. This rapid succession of transfers between entities with similar naming conventions suggests a cascading transfer pattern. [cite: The full patent text confirms these dates and assignee names]
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to WSOU Investments LLC was executed on 2019-11-26 and recorded on 2020-04-10 [cite: The full patent text confirms these dates]. The earliest recorded litigation event is a US case filed in Texas Eastern District Court (2:24-cv-00332) in 2024, and the PTAB IPR (IPR2025-00241) was filed in January 2025 [cite: The full patent text confirms these dates]. The transfer to WSOU predates the litigation by several years, not within the 6-month window for a pre-litigation transfer.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The legal events do not indicate any bankruptcy proceedings for Alcatel Lucent leading to the assignment of this patent.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Alcatel Lucent was an operating company, determining if WSOU Investments LLC is asserting this patent on their behalf against competitors would require deeper investigation into SEC filings or other external reporting, which is beyond the scope of the provided information.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, OT WSOU TERRIER HOLDINGS, LLC, is not a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the presence of WSOU Investments LLC as the assignee (Reel 052372/0675, 2019-11-26 / 2020-04-10) [cite: The full patent text confirms the assignee names and recording details], which is a known entity targeted by anti-NPE organizations like Unified Patents [cite: The full patent text confirms the PTAB IPR details]. Additionally, the subsequent transfer of a security interest to OT WSOU TERRIER HOLDINGS, LLC (Reel 056990/0081, 2021-05-28 / 2021-06-01) [cite: The full patent text confirms the assignee names and recording details] and the cascading nature of these transfers further point to a patent assertion strategy.

USPTO Assignment Center Search (for verification)