Assignment history

Inventors

• Gregory G. Raleigh: The sole inventor listed. At the time of the earliest priority application (January 28, 2009), Raleigh was the founder and CEO of a prior venture, Airgo Networks, which was acquired by Qualcomm in 2006. He founded Headwater Partners I LLC, the original assignee, in 2008. Therefore, he was likely working on behalf of his own entity, Headwater, at the time of invention.

Original assignee

• Headwater Partners I LLC: The original assignee is a Delaware limited liability company. Research indicates this entity is a patent holding and assertion company founded by Gregory G. Raleigh. It does not appear to have ever shipped a product embodying the claims. It is now part of the larger Headwater Research LLC entity.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment database for U.S. Patent No. 8,631,102 reveals the following transfers:

• 2012-11-12 (executed) / recorded 2012-11-19 — Reel 029676/0150

  • Conveyance: Assignment of assignor's interest
  • Assignor: Gregory G. Raleigh
  • Assignee: Headwater Partners I LLC
  • Correspondent: ROBERT J. STERN, SULLIVAN & WORCESTER LLP, 1666 K STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20006
  • Context: This is the initial assignment from the inventor to his holding company, executed three days before the application was filed.

• 2017-01-04 (executed) / recorded 2017-01-04 — Reel 040186/0200

  • Conveyance: Merger and Change of Name
  • Assignor: HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC and HEADWATER MANAGEMENT LLC
  • Assignee: HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC
  • Correspondent: CHRISTOPHER M. LOH, FITZPATRICK, CELLA, HARPER & SCINTO, 1290 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10104-3800
  • Context: This transaction consolidated assets from multiple Headwater entities into a single entity, Headwater Research LLC, which subsequently became the plaintiff in numerous litigation campaigns.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8,631,102
    2012 : Filed by Gregory Raleigh
         : Assigned to Headwater Partners I LLC
    2014 : Patent Granted
    2017 : Assigned to Headwater Research LLC via merger
    2025 : First infringement suits filed
         : IPR filed by Google et al
    2026 : IPR trial instituted

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.
   The assignment on 2017-01-04 (Reel 040186/0200) moved the patent from one holding company (Headwater Partners I LLC) to another (Headwater Research LLC). Neither entity sells products or services, and their purpose is patent monetization.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.
   The current assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is a well-documented patent assertion entity. It is listed as a high-volume plaintiff by both RPX and Unified Patents. As noted in the PTAB section, this patent has been asserted in multiple district court cases filed in 2025.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present.
   The two recorded assignments were handled by different law firms.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present.
   The two assignments were separated by more than four years.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.
   While the 2017-01-04 transfer (Reel 040186/0200) to Headwater Research LLC was not immediately followed by litigation, it served to consolidate the patent into the entity that would later launch a widespread assertion campaign in 2025. This type of corporate restructuring is a common preparatory step for litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.

7. Privateering — Not present.
   The patent originated with the inventor's own entity, not a large operating company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The current assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is a widely recognized patent assertion entity. The patent was assigned from one Raleigh-controlled holding company to another (Reel 040186/0200), and this latter entity has initiated numerous infringement lawsuits. These factors provide strong evidence that the patent is being used for assertion purposes by a non-practicing entity. You can verify the assignment history at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search page.