Assignment history

Inventors

The named inventors for US Patent 8,543,710 are:

• Patrick Turley
• Keith Johnston
• Steven D. Tonnesen

At the time of filing (March 10, 2005), these inventors appear to have been associated with Rocksteady Networks, Inc. This is indicated by several related applications listed in the "Detailed Description" section, such as U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/551,698 (filed Mar. 10, 2004, converted to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/076,719) and WO2004036371A2, which lists Rocksteady Networks, Inc. as the assignee.

Original assignee

The entity named as the original assignee on the issued patent US8543710B2 is RPX Corp.

• Shipped product embodying claims: RPX Corporation's primary business model is patent risk management and defensive patent acquisition, rather than developing and shipping products embodying patented claims. Therefore, they do not ship products embodying the claims.
• Primary line of business: Patent risk management, defensive patent aggregation, and patent licensing for its member companies, often to neutralize patent assertions.
• Current status: Operating. RPX Corporation remains an active entity in the patent landscape, providing patent risk solutions.

Assignment timeline

The following is a chronological list of recorded assignments for US Patent 8,543,710 as found on the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database (accessed May 26, 2026).

• 2005-06-22 (executed) / recorded 2005-06-29 — Reel 016335/0500

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: JOHNSTON, KEITH, TURLEY, PATRICK, TONNESEN, STEVE (Inventors)
  • Assignee: WHITE, ERIC
  • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP (Philadelphia, PA).
  • Context: Transfer of inventors' interest to an individual.

• 2011-01-27 (executed) / recorded 2011-03-01 — Reel 026038/0642

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: WHITE, ERIC
  • Assignee: ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Correspondent: JOHN R. WALTON, ESQ. (Sherman Oaks, CA). This correspondent appears on other Rocksteady Technologies assignments.
  • Context: Transfer from individual to an LLC, likely for asset consolidation.

• 2012-06-28 (executed) / recorded 2012-08-01 — Reel 028881/0951

  • Conveyance: Confirmatory Assignment
  • Assignor: WHITE, ERIC
  • Assignee: ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
  • Correspondent: JOHN R. WALTON, ESQ. (Sherman Oaks, CA). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Confirmatory transfer, usually to correct or clarify a previous assignment.

• 2012-08-13 (executed) / recorded 2012-08-27 — Reel 029013/0503

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Assignee: RPX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: RPX CORPORATION (San Francisco, CA).
  • Context: Defensive aggregation; transfer to a patent risk management company.

• 2018-06-29 (executed) / recorded 2018-07-25 — Reel 043370/0698

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
  • Correspondent: KING & SPALDING LLP (New York, NY).
  • Context: Securitization; patent used as collateral for a loan.

• 2020-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2020-10-26 — Reel 049586/0787

  • Conveyance: Patent Security Agreement
  • Assignor: RPX CLEARINGHOUSE LLC, RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: BARINGS FINANCE LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP (New York, NY).
  • Context: Securitization; patent used as collateral for a loan, potentially a new or updated agreement.

• 2020-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2020-10-26 — Reel 049586/0793

  • Conveyance: Patent Security Agreement
  • Assignor: RPX CLEARINGHOUSE LLC, RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: BARINGS FINANCE LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP (New York, NY). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Duplicate or related securitization filing from the same date.

• 2020-10-26 (executed) / recorded 2020-10-26 — Reel 049586/0805

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
  • Assignee: RPX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: KING & SPALDING LLP (New York, NY). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of security interest; previous loan paid off or restructured.

• 2024-05-31 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-05 — Reel 055938/0342

  • Conveyance: Release of Security Interest in Specified Patents
  • Assignor: BARINGS FINANCE LLC
  • Assignee: RPX CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP (Washington, DC). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of security interest; loan related to Barings Finance LLC paid off.

• 2024-07-05 (executed) / recorded 2024-07-15 — Reel 056086/0150

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: RPX CORPORATION
  • Assignee: Netskope, Inc.
  • Correspondent: O'Melveny & Myers LLP (San Francisco, CA).
  • Context: Transfer to an operating company; RPX sells the patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8543710
    2005 : Inventors to Eric White
    2011 : Eric White to Rocksteady Tech
    2012 : Eric White to Rocksteady Tech (confirm)
         : Rocksteady Tech to RPX Corp
    2018 : RPX to Jefferies Finance LLC (security)
    2020 : RPX to Barings Finance LLC (security)
         : RPX to Barings Finance LLC (security)
         : Jefferies Finance releases RPX
    2024 : Barings Finance releases RPX
         : RPX to Netskope Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

   • Context: The initial transfer from inventors to "Eric White" (Reel 016335/0500) and then to "Rocksteady Technologies, LLC" (Reel 026038/0642, Reel 028881/0951) could represent a shell entity pattern if Rocksteady Technologies, LLC did not produce products embodying the claims. While "Rocksteady Networks, Inc." (from related patent citations) likely did, the "LLC" version may have been a holding company. However, the most definitive signal is the transfer to RPX Corporation, a defensive aggregator, which by definition does not produce products, followed by the transfer from RPX.
   • Citation: Reel 029013/0503 (Rocksteady Technologies LLC to RPX CORPORATION) and the nature of RPX's business model.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Unclear/Not applicable as a traditional NPE.

   • Context: RPX Corporation (Reel 029013/0503) is a known defensive aggregator, not a traditional NPE. Their role is to acquire patents to protect their members from NPE assertions, often by holding patents defensively or selling them to operating companies. The current assignee, Netskope, Inc. (Reel 056086/0150), is an operating company in the cloud security space. While Netskope is actively asserting this patent (as per the litigation summary), it is doing so as an operating company against competitors.
   • Citation: Reel 029013/0503 for RPX. Netskope, Inc. is an operating company.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

   • Context:
     • JOHN R. WALTON, ESQ. (Sherman Oaks, CA) appears on assignments to ROCKSTEADY TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Reel 026038/0642, Reel 028881/0951). This indicates consistent legal representation for Rocksteady Technologies, LLC.
     • AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP (New York, NY and Washington, DC) appears multiple times for security agreements involving RPX CORPORATION (Reel 049586/0787, Reel 049586/0793, Reel 055938/0342).
     • KING & SPALDING LLP (New York, NY) appears twice for Jefferies Finance LLC (Reel 043370/0698, Reel 049586/0805).
   • Citation: Reel 026038/0642, Reel 028881/0951 (John R. Walton); Reel 049586/0787, Reel 049586/0793, Reel 055938/0342 (Akin Gump); Reel 043370/0698, Reel 049586/0805 (King & Spalding).

4. Cascading transfers — Not present.

   • Context: While there are multiple transfers, they are spaced out over years (e.g., 2005, 2011, 2012, 2024). The security agreements in 2020 involved the same assignor/assignee combination for multiple filings on the same day, which is not a "cascading transfer" between different shell LLCs but rather a series of related financial filings.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear.

   • Context: The earliest known district court litigation (4:25-cv-02360 and 3:25-cv-02360) has a filing date in 2025. The last assignment to Netskope, Inc. was on 2024-07-05 (Reel 056086/0150). This is more than 6 months prior to the 2025 litigation filing, suggesting it's not a direct pre-litigation transfer for the current litigation, but rather a standard acquisition by an operating company. However, the litigation is ongoing with the new owner.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.

   • Context: No evidence in the assignment records or Google Patents legal events indicates a bankruptcy proceeding for any assignor in the chain.

7. Privateering — Unclear.

   • Context: The transfer from RPX (a defensive aggregator) to Netskope (an operating company) is more akin to RPX divesting an asset to an operating company that then chooses to assert it. There's no clear evidence from the assignment records alone to suggest RPX transferred it to Netskope with the explicit intent for Netskope to assert on RPX's behalf against specific competitors, as typically seen in privateering arrangements.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Present (prior ownership).

   • Context: RPX Corporation was an assignee from 2012-08-13 (Reel 029013/0503) until 2024-07-05 (Reel 056086/0150). This indicates a period where the patent was held by a defensive aggregator.
   • Citation: Reel 029013/0503.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

This verdict is driven by the final transfer to Netskope, Inc. (Reel 056086/0150, recorded 2024-07-15), a known operating company in the cloud security space. While the patent was previously held by RPX Corporation, a defensive aggregator, its current ownership by an operating company that is actively asserting it in district court (as per the litigation summary) indicates an operating-company assertion strategy.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US8543710