Assignment history

Inventors

• Kwok Wai Cheung: Employer at time of filing (June 6, 2008) is not explicitly stated in the patent or readily determinable.
• Peter P. Tong: Co-founder of IpVenture Inc., the original assignee. Employer at time of filing (June 6, 2008) appears to be IpVenture Inc..
• C. Douglass Thomas: Co-founder of IpVenture Inc., the original assignee. Employer at time of filing (June 6, 2008) appears to be IpVenture Inc..

No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, were determinable from the provided information. Peter P. Tong and C. Douglass Thomas were co-founders of the original assignee, IpVenture Inc., and were later assignors of the patent.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent is IpVenture Inc.

• Shipped a product embodying the claims: No, IpVenture Inc.'s primary business model focuses on building, monetizing, and defending patent portfolios through licensing, rather than manufacturing or selling products directly embodying the claims of US8582789. While they list "Personalized Hearing" as an "IntellectualWare" area, there is no evidence they shipped a product embodying these specific claims.
• Primary line of business: Intellectual property development, protection, and monetization through licensing and acquisition of patent portfolios.
• Current status: Operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2008-06-06 (filed) - Patent application US12/157,092 filed by IpVenture Inc.

• 2013-11-12 (issued) - Patent US8582789 granted to IpVenture Inc.

• 2024-09-27 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-04 — Reel 058863/0187

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: IPVENTURE, INC.
  • Assignee: THOMAS, C. DOUGLASS; TONG, PETER P.
  • Correspondent: BRENT D. REYNOLDS, REYNOLDS LAW GROUP PLC, 1800 BERING DRIVE, SUITE 800 HOUSTON TX 77057.
  • Context: Transfer from corporate entity (IpVenture Inc.) to individual inventors.

• 2024-09-27 (executed) / recorded 2024-10-04 — Reel 058863/0189

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: THOMAS, C. DOUGLASS; TONG, PETER P.
  • Assignee: INGENIOSPEC, LLC
  • Correspondent: BRENT D. REYNOLDS, REYNOLDS LAW GROUP PLC, 1800 BERING DRIVE, SUITE 800 HOUSTON TX 77057. (This correspondent recurs in this chain.)
  • Context: Transfer from individual inventors to new corporate entity (Ingeniospec LLC).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8582789
    2008 : Filed by IpVenture Inc
    2013 : Issued to IpVenture Inc
    2024 : Assigned to Thomas and Tong
         : Assigned to Ingeniospec LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

   • IpVenture Inc. describes its business as building, monetizing, and defending patent portfolios through licensing, which is characteristic of a non-practicing entity (NPE).
   • Ingeniospec LLC is explicitly identified as an NPE by Unified Patents and RPX Insight. The transfers on 2024-10-04 (Reel 058863/0187 and 058863/0189) convey the patent from IpVenture, through the inventors, to Ingeniospec LLC, a known NPE.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.

   • Ingeniospec LLC is widely recognized and documented as a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) by prominent patent monitoring and defensive aggregation services like Unified Patents and RPX Insight. RPX Insight, for example, reports on IngenioSpec's numerous litigation campaigns.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

   • BRENT D. REYNOLDS, REYNOLDS LAW GROUP PLC, 1800 BERING DRIVE, SUITE 800 HOUSTON TX 77057, served as the correspondent for both assignments recorded on 2024-10-04 (Reel 058863/0187 and Reel 058863/0189). This is a recurrence of the same correspondent within the recorded chain for this patent.

4. Cascading transfers — Present.

   • The patent underwent two consecutive assignments on the same execution date (2024-09-27) and recorded on the same day (2024-10-04): first from IpVenture Inc. to C. Douglass Thomas and Peter P. Tong, and then immediately from Thomas and Tong to Ingeniospec LLC (Reel 058863/0187 and 058863/0189). This rapid, back-to-back transfer within a single day is a strong indicator of cascading transfers.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.

   • The assignment to Ingeniospec LLC was recorded on 2024-10-04 (Reel 058863/0189). Infringement lawsuits asserting this patent by Ingeniospec LLC were filed shortly thereafter, such as case 2:24-cv-00819 against Samsung, filed on 2024-10-07. This filing date is just three days after the patent's assignment to Ingeniospec LLC, well within the 6-month pre-litigation window.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication from the provided information that any of the assignors or assignees in the chain underwent bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While both IpVenture Inc. and Ingeniospec LLC are IP monetization entities, there is no explicit evidence or reporting to suggest that an operating company transferred the patent to them specifically to assert on the operating company's behalf against competitors. The transfers appear to be part of a direct NPE operation.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The ownership chain terminates with Ingeniospec LLC, which is an identified NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on multiple strong signals: Ingeniospec LLC is a known NPE, the patent was transferred through cascading assignments on the same day (Reel 058863/0187, 058863/0189), the same correspondent handled both transfers, and infringement litigation asserting this patent commenced just days after its assignment to Ingeniospec LLC. The original assignee, IpVenture Inc., also operates as an IP monetization firm, further cementing the NPE nature of this patent's chain.

Verification of assignments can be performed at the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 8582789).