Assignment history

Inventors

• Leonardo Aldana: At the time of filing, employed by Research In Motion Limited (later BlackBerry Ltd).
• Ming-Lun Dave MA: At the time of filing, employed by Research In Motion Limited (later BlackBerry Ltd).
• Dietmar Frank Wennemer: At the time of filing, employed by Research In Motion Limited (later BlackBerry Ltd).
• Felipe Oliveira Simoes: At the time of filing, employed by Research In Motion Limited (later BlackBerry Ltd).

All named inventors were employed by Research In Motion Limited, the original assignee, at the time of filing the patent application. No unusual patterns of inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing are evident from the provided information.

Original assignee

The original assignee of US Patent 8545247 was Research In Motion Limited, which later changed its name to BlackBerry Limited [cite: The provided patent text].

Research In Motion Limited (RIM), and subsequently BlackBerry Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications company primarily known for developing the BlackBerry brand of wireless mobile devices, interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets from 1999 to 2016. These products embodied the claims of the patent, which relates to a dock for a portable electronic device.

BlackBerry Limited transitioned to an enterprise software and services company specializing in secure communications and the Internet of Things (IoT) after ceasing in-house device design in 2016. As of the current date (May 25, 2026), BlackBerry Limited is an operating company focusing on cybersecurity enterprise software and services.

Assignment timeline

The correspondent information for these assignments could not be determined from the provided search results.

• 2012-06-21 (executed) / recorded 2012-06-27 — Reel 028456/0127

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Aldana, Leonardo; Ma, Ming-Lun Dave; Wennemer, Dietmar Frank; Simoes, Felipe Oliveira (Inventors)
  • Assignee: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to the company.

• 2013-07-09 (executed) / recorded 2013-08-28 — Reel 031122/0342

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
  • Assignee: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Internal corporate name change.

• 2023-03-20 (executed) / recorded 2023-04-27 — Reel 063471/0474

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
  • Assignee: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Transfer of a patent portfolio from an operating company to an escrow entity as part of a sale.

• 2023-05-11 (executed) / recorded 2023-06-16 — Reel 064015/0001

  • Conveyance: Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment
  • Assignor: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC
  • Assignee: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Transfer from an escrow entity to a patent monetization firm (NPE) as the ultimate purchaser.

• 2023-05-11 (executed) / recorded 2023-06-19 — Reel 064066/0001

  • Conveyance: Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment
  • Assignor: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
  • Assignee: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Direct transfer from the original operating company to the patent monetization firm (NPE), likely to confirm or correct the prior transfer chain.

• 2023-03-20 (executed) / recorded 2023-09-05 — Reel 064806/0669

  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
  • Assignee: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Corrective assignment related to the initial transfer from BlackBerry to the escrow entity.

• 2023-05-11 (executed) / recorded 2023-09-05 — Reel 064807/0001

  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC
  • Assignee: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
  • Correspondent: Not determinable from provided search results.
  • Context: Corrective assignment related to the transfer from the escrow entity to Malikie Innovations Limited.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8545247
    2011 : Priority date
    2012 : Filed by Research In Motion Ltd
    2013 : Assigned to BlackBerry Ltd
         : Patent Issued
    2023 : Transferred to OT Patent Escrow LLC
         : Transferred to Malikie Innovations
         : Corrective assignments
    2024 : District Court case filed
    2026 : PTAB case filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

   • Malikie Innovations Limited is described as an "IP holding company" and a "subsidiary of Irish patent monetization firm Key Patent Innovations Limited (KPI)". Its focus is "licensing these patents to both established players and new entrants". It is explicitly identified as a "non-practising entity (NPE)".
   • OT PATENT ESCROW, LLC appears as an intermediary, which is common in large portfolio sales to an NPE.
   • Evidence: Reel 064015/0001 (transfer to Malikie Innovations Limited recorded 2023-06-16), Reel 064066/0001 (transfer to Malikie Innovations Limited recorded 2023-06-19).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.

   • Malikie Innovations Limited is identified as an NPE and a subsidiary of Key Patent Innovations Limited (KPI), an "Irish patent monetization firm". KPI advertises three portfolios, including Malikie's former BlackBerry patents, and both Malikie and its sister entities (Pictiva, Valtrus) have become plaintiffs in US federal courts. Malikie Innovations is described as "active in patent assertions across multiple sectors".
   • Evidence: Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Ltd (per patent text). RPX Insight and ip fray articles confirm Malikie's role as an asserter.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information could not be determined from the provided search results, as specific USPTO assignment records with this detail were not returned.

4. Cascading transfers — Present.

   • Multiple assignments occurred in quick succession in 2023:
     • BlackBerry to OT Patent Escrow, LLC (executed 2023-03-20, recorded 2023-04-27).
     • OT Patent Escrow, LLC to Malikie Innovations Limited (executed 2023-05-11, recorded 2023-06-16).
     • BlackBerry to Malikie Innovations Limited (executed 2023-05-11, recorded 2023-06-19).
     • Corrective assignments in September 2023 (Reel 064806/0669 and 064807/0001) further demonstrate multiple transactions within a short period to finalize the transfer.
   • These transfers happened within a span of less than 6 months. This pattern is indicative of a structured portfolio sale to a monetization entity.
   • Evidence: Reel 063471/0474 (recorded 2023-04-27), Reel 064015/0001 (recorded 2023-06-16), Reel 064066/0001 (recorded 2023-06-19), Reel 064806/0669 (recorded 2023-09-05), Reel 064807/0001 (recorded 2023-09-05).

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.

   • The transfer to Malikie Innovations Limited was largely completed by June 2023. The US District Court case (2:24-cv-01490) was filed in Washington Western District Court in 2024, and the PTAB IPR2026-00005 case in 2026. While the district court case is more than 6 months after the recording of the assignment to Malikie, the overall pattern of the patent being transferred to a known NPE and then asserted shortly after (within a year of the transfer) strongly suggests the chain was arranged to enable assertion. RPX Insight reports that Malikie joined its sister entities in becoming plaintiffs in US federal courts after the acquisition.
   • Evidence: Transfers to Malikie Innovations Limited recorded June 2023 (Reel 064015/0001, Reel 064066/0001). US District Court case 2:24-cv-01490 filed in 2024 (per previous litigation summary).

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. BlackBerry Limited is an operating company, and the transfer was described as a sale of "substantially all of [BlackBerry's] non-core patents and patent applications", not a bankruptcy proceeding.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While BlackBerry sold its non-core patents to an NPE, there is no explicit information in the provided snippets stating that Malikie Innovations is asserting these patents on BlackBerry's behalf against BlackBerry's competitors. This type of arrangement often requires specific agreements not visible in public assignment records.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with Malikie Innovations Limited, which is identified as a patent monetization firm (NPE).

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the transfer to a known asserter (Malikie Innovations Limited, a subsidiary of Key Patent Innovations, identified as an NPE actively engaged in patent assertions), a clear shell-entity transfer from an operating company (BlackBerry) to this licensing-focused entity, and cascading transfers involving an escrow entity and multiple corrective assignments within a short period in 2023 (Reels 063471/0474, 064015/0001, 064066/0001, 064806/0669, 064807/0001). The subsequent filing of litigation in 2024 confirms the patent assertion strategy.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ and search for patent number US8545247.