Assignment history

Inventors

• Ofer Zimmerman: Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated in the patent document.
• Kenneth L. Stanwood: Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated in the patent document.
• Brian Spinar: Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated in the patent document.
• Yair Bourlas: Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated in the patent document.
• Amir Serok: Employer at time of filing not explicitly stated in the patent document.

The patent document does not specify the employers of the inventors at the time of filing. However, the original technology was developed by Ensemble Communications, Inc., which later assigned the rights to WiLAN Inc.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is WiLAN Inc.

WiLAN Inc. is primarily a patent licensing company, engaging in the acquisition and licensing of intellectual property. Historically, the technology underlying this patent family appears to have originated from Ensemble Communications, Inc., a developer of broadband wireless access systems, which was acquired by Sycamore Networks in 2000. WiLAN Inc. acquired the patent rights from Ensemble Communications, Inc. before the issue date of US8457145.

WiLAN Inc. is currently operating as a subsidiary of Quarterhill Inc., following a merger and name change in 2017. Quarterhill Inc. continues to operate in the intellectual property licensing and technology solutions sectors.

Assignment timeline

• 2013-02-26 (executed) / recorded 2013-03-05 — Reel 029729/0935

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ENSEMBLE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: WI-LAN, INC.
  • Correspondent: BATTEN, ANTHONY B. / BATTEN IP LAW / 2280 HURRON PKWY / ANN ARBOR, MI / 48104 / US
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights from an operating company (developer of the technology) to a patent licensing entity.

• 2017-06-13 (executed) / recorded 2017-06-21 — Reel 039864/0873

  • Conveyance: MERGER AND CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: WI-LAN INC.
  • Assignee: QUARTERHILL INC.
  • Correspondent: MARKS & CLERK LAWYERS / 330 SLATER STREET / 18TH FLOOR / OTTAWA, ON / K1R 0C5 / CA
  • Context: Wi-LAN Inc. underwent a corporate restructuring and changed its name to Quarterhill Inc.

• 2017-06-14 (executed) / recorded 2017-06-21 — Reel 039864/0877

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: QUARTERHILL INC.
  • Assignee: WI-LAN INC.
  • Correspondent: MARKS & CLERK LAWYERS / 330 SLATER STREET / 18TH FLOOR / OTTAWA, ON / K1R 0C5 / CA
  • Context: Internal reorganization where Quarterhill Inc. assigned patent interest back to Wi-LAN Inc., likely as an operating subsidiary.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8457145
    1999 : Priority date
    2012 : Filed by WiLAN Inc
    2013 : Assigned to WiLAN Inc
         : Issued
    2017 : WiLAN name change to Quarterhill
         : Quarterhill assigns to WiLAN
    2019 : Anticipated expiration
    2023 : IPR challenges begin
    2026 : CAFC affirms claims invalidated

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent rights were transferred from Ensemble Communications, Inc., a developer of broadband wireless access systems, to Wi-LAN, Inc. (Reel 029729 / Frame 0935, executed 2013-02-26), which is known primarily as a patent licensing entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Wi-LAN Inc. is a well-known patent licensing company frequently identified as a non-practicing entity (NPE). Wi-LAN Inc. became the assignee in 2013 (Reel 029729 / Frame 0935) and remains the operating entity for IP within Quarterhill Inc.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Anthony B. Batten of Batten IP Law handled the initial transfer to Wi-LAN Inc. (Reel 029729 / Frame 0935). Marks & Clerk Lawyers handled the subsequent internal corporate actions for Wi-LAN/Quarterhill (Reel 039864 / Frame 0873 and 0877). While Wi-LAN is a known NPE, the identified correspondents do not show recurrence across disparate shell entities within this specific patent's chain, which is the typical signal for this pattern.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There are no multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs in a short period (under 24 months) that are indicative of a shell-entity transfer pattern. The transfers related to Quarterhill were a name change and an internal re-assignment.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to WiLAN Inc. was executed on 2013-02-26 and recorded on 2013-03-05. While litigation was noted around 2014, the transfer to WiLAN occurred before the patent issued (June 4, 2013) and well over 6 months before the earliest noted litigation cases, meaning the patent was already in WiLAN's portfolio when it became assertable.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Ensemble Communications Inc. was acquired by Sycamore Networks in 2000, but the assignment of this patent to WiLAN in 2013 was not explicitly stated to be part of a bankruptcy proceeding.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While WiLAN engages in patent licensing, there is no explicit evidence in the provided documents or assignment records of an operating company transferring the patent to WiLAN to assert on its behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent's ownership chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is justified by the strong signal of the patent being acquired by Wi-LAN Inc. (Reel 029729 / Frame 0935, executed 2013-02-26) from Ensemble Communications, Inc., an operating company. Wi-LAN Inc. is a well-documented non-practicing entity (NPE) and a high-frequency patent asserter. The patent's involvement in multiple litigation cases further supports its role in an assertion-focused strategy.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html