Assignment history

Inventors

Hiroshi Machino (Mitsubishi Electric Corp)

Original assignee

The original assignee of record was Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company, operating in a wide range of businesses including energy and electric systems, industrial automation, information and communication systems, and home appliances. They ship numerous products embodying navigation technologies. Mitsubishi Electric Corp is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2010-07-28 (executed) / recorded 2010-08-25 — Reel 024887/0599

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Machino, Hiroshi
  • Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
  • Correspondent: John W. Cole, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, LLP, 1940 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. This correspondent appears on other tracked patents.
  • Context: Internal reorg (assignment from inventor to original corporate assignee)

• 2022-02-24 (executed) / recorded 2022-05-19 — Reel 059954/0068

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
  • Assignee: 1205 Investments, LLC, 1310 N. Wishon Avenue, Fresno, CA 93728
  • Correspondent: John M. Neclerio, Neclerio IP Law, LLC, 766 E. Howard Ave., Decatur, GA 30030.
  • Context: Transfer to asserter

• 2022-03-01 (executed) / recorded 2022-05-19 — Reel 059954/0113

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: 1205 Investments, LLC
  • Assignee: MEL Navip LLC, 1310 N. Wishon Ave., Fresno, CA 93728
  • Correspondent: John M. Neclerio, Neclerio IP Law, LLC, 766 E. Howard Ave., Decatur, GA 30030. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Cascading transfer / transfer to asserter

• 2025-05-31 (executed) / recorded 2025-06-03 — Reel 071298/0975

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: MEL Navip LLC
  • Assignee: Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC, 1910 Pacific Ave., Suite 7070, Dallas, TX 75201
  • Correspondent: John M. Neclerio, Neclerio IP Law, LLC, 766 E. Howard Ave., Decatur, GA 30030. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Cascading transfer / transfer to asserter

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8649971
    2008 : Filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp
    2010 : Assigned inventor to Mitsubishi Electric Corp
    2014 : Issued
    2022 : Assigned to 1205 Investments LLC
         : Assigned to MEL Navip LLC
    2023 : First infringement suit filed
    2025 : Assigned to Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent moved from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, an operating company, to 1205 Investments, LLC (Reel 059954/0068), then to MEL Navip LLC (Reel 059954/0113), and finally to Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC (Reel 071298/0975). These entities, particularly "LLC" suffixes and the shared address (1310 N. Wishon Avenue, Fresno, CA) for the first two LLCs and the Dallas address for Optimum Vector Dynamics, suggest licensing-only entities.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC is a known plaintiff in patent litigation, as evidenced by the listed district court cases in the provided litigation summary (e.g., 2:23-cv-00175 and 2:23-cv-00176).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. John M. Neclerio of Neclerio IP Law, LLC is listed as the correspondent for the assignments to 1205 Investments, LLC (Reel 059954/0068), MEL Navip LLC (Reel 059954/0113), and Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC (Reel 071298/0975). This recurrence across multiple transfers to shell-like entities is a strong indicator.
4. Cascading transfers — present. There are two consecutive assignments within a short period in 2022: from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation to 1205 Investments, LLC (executed 2022-02-24, recorded 2022-05-19), and immediately from 1205 Investments, LLC to MEL Navip LLC (executed 2022-03-01, recorded 2022-05-19). These occurred within days of each other (execution dates) and were recorded on the same day. Additionally, the transfer to Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC in 2025 continues this pattern.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to 1205 Investments LLC (executed 2022-02-24, recorded 2022-05-19) and MEL Navip LLC (executed 2022-03-01, recorded 2022-05-19) occurred less than a year before the first infringement suits were filed by Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC on April 21, 2023 (e.g., 2:23-cv-00175 and 2:23-cv-00176). The final assignment to Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC was executed on May 31, 2025.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation remains an operating entity.
7. Privateering — unclear. While the patent was transferred from an operating company to an NPE, there is no explicit evidence from the provided data (e.g., SEC filings or specific reporting) to confirm that Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is sponsoring the assertion.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of multiple strong signals, including transfers from an operating company to shell entities (1205 Investments, MEL Navip, and Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC), the recurrence of the same correspondent attorney (John M. Neclerio) across these transfers, the cascading nature of the transfers, and the pre-litigation timing of these assignments, all point to this patent being asserted by a Non-Practicing Entity. The current assignee, Optimum Vector Dynamics LLC, is also a known asserter.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US8649971