Assignment history

Inventors

• Gyuchang Jun: Employer not explicitly stated but assigned patent rights to Bitpass, Inc. at the time of filing.
• Kurt Huang: Employer not explicitly stated but assigned patent rights to Bitpass, Inc. at the time of filing.
• Duane Kuroda: Employer not explicitly stated but assigned patent rights to Bitpass, Inc. at the time of filing.

The inventors assigned their rights to Bitpass, Inc. on the same day the patent application was filed (2005-06-08 executed, recorded 2005-06-09), suggesting an association with Bitpass, Inc. at that time.

Original assignee

The entity named as the current assignee on the issued patent (US8566461B1) and the assignee at the time of grant was Digital River Inc.. Digital River Inc. is an operating company primarily engaged in providing global e-commerce solutions, including online storefronts, payment processing, and digital marketing services, especially for software and digital product distribution. Digital River Inc. is currently an active, operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2005-06-08 (executed) / recorded 2005-06-09 — Reel 016679/0419

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: HUANG, KURT, JUN, GYUCHANG, KURODA, DUANE
  • Assignee: BITPASS, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD. 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025. This correspondent firm recurs later in the chain.
  • Context: Initial assignment from inventors to a startup company shortly after the priority date.

• 2007-01-22 (executed) / recorded 2007-01-22 — Reel 018788/0031

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: BITPASS, INC.
  • Assignee: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD. 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025. This correspondent firm also handled the previous assignment.
  • Context: Acquisition or transfer of patent rights from a startup (Bitpass) to a larger e-commerce operating company (Digital River) prior to patent issuance.

• 2015-02-12 (executed) / recorded 2015-02-12 — Reel 034980/0698

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT - PATENT
  • Assignor: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
  • Assignee: MACQUARIE US TRADING LLC
  • Correspondent: MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY LLP, 227 WEST MONROE STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60606. This correspondent firm recurs later in the chain.
  • Context: Digital River Inc. granted a security interest in the patent as collateral for financing.

• 2015-02-12 (executed) / recorded 2015-02-12 — Reel 034981/0429

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT - PATENT
  • Assignor: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
  • Assignee: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICES LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY LLP, 227 WEST MONROE STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60606. This correspondent firm also handled the previous security agreement.
  • Context: Digital River Inc. granted another security interest in the patent as collateral for financing, likely related to the same financial transaction as the previous entry.

• 2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-01 — Reel 056448/0001

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT - PATENT
  • Assignor: DIGITAL RIVER, INC., DR GLOBALTECH, INC., DR MYCOMMERCE, INC., DIGITAL RIVER MARKETING SOLUTIONS, INC., DR APAC, LLC, DANUBE PRIVATE HOLDINGS II, LLC
  • Assignee: CERBERUS BUSINESS FINANCE AGENCY, LLC, AS THE COLLATERAL AGENT
  • Correspondent: PROSKAUER ROSE LLP, 11 ORANGE AVENUE, SUITE 1600, ORLANDO, FL 32801.
  • Context: Digital River Inc. and related entities granted a further security interest in the patent as collateral.

• 2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-02 — Reel 057252/0637

  • Conveyance: TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL
  • Assignor: MACQUARIE US TRADING LLC
  • Assignee: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
  • Correspondent: NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP, 2200 ROSS AVENUE SUITE 2400, DALLAS, TX 75201. This correspondent firm recurs later in the chain.
  • Context: Release of a previously granted security interest, returning full control to Digital River Inc.

• 2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-02 — Reel 057252/0663

  • Conveyance: TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL
  • Assignor: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICES LLC
  • Assignee: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
  • Correspondent: NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP, 2200 ROSS AVENUE SUITE 2400, DALLAS, TX 75201. This correspondent firm also handled the previous release.
  • Context: Release of a second previously granted security interest, further consolidating full control with Digital River Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8566461
    2005 : Filed; Inventors assigned to Bitpass
    2007 : Bitpass assigned to Digital River
    2013 : Patent issued
    2015 : Digital River granted security interest to Macquarie
         : Digital River granted security interest to Cortland
    2021 : Digital River granted security interest to Cerberus
         : Macquarie released security interest
         : Cortland released security interest

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers involve operating companies (Bitpass, Digital River) and financial institutions for security agreements. There are no indications of shell entities with IP-specific naming conventions or registered-agent addresses.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Digital River Inc. is an operating company, and Macquarie US Trading LLC, Cortland Capital Market Services LLC, and Cerberus Business Finance Agency, LLC are financial entities primarily involved in lending and security, not listed as known patent asserters.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present (as a troll pattern). While certain law firms (BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP; MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY LLP; NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP) appear on multiple related recordings within the chain, these instances correspond to specific phases of the patent's lifecycle (initial assignment/acquisition, securing loans, releasing liens) rather than indicating a single correspondent facilitating a series of transfers to anonymous shell entities typical of NPEs.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The multiple entries for 2015 and 2021 are security agreements and their subsequent releases, not consecutive ownership transfers through chained LLCs. The actual ownership transfers are separated by significant time periods.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. No litigation involving this patent was found in prior analysis.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Digital River Inc. remains an active operating company.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence of Digital River Inc. transferring the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not end with any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While the patent ownership history shows transfers between operating companies (Bitpass to Digital River) and a series of security interests and their releases with financial institutions, there are no strong or weak signals indicating an NPE pattern. The current assignee, Digital River Inc., is an operating company. No litigation has been identified, and no transfers to known shell entities or patent asserters are present in the assignment records.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center search for US8566461: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patents/8566461/assignments.