Patent 8667304

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (1)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2023-05-05 · reel 056461/0430 · Assignment of Assignors Interest

    DIGITAL KEYSTONE, INC.VIDEOLABS, INC.

    Correspondent: BRENT E. RUSH · RUSH IP LAW

    Transfer to new operating entity

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Luc Vantalon (Digital Keystone Inc)
  • Paolo Siccardo (Digital Keystone Inc)

Both inventors were employed by the original assignee, Digital Keystone Inc., at the time of filing. There is no immediate indication of an unusual pattern of inventors departing within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

Digital Keystone Inc. was the original assignee named on the issued patent US8667304.

Digital Keystone Inc. is a video technology company that develops digital entertainment technologies bridging Pay TV with the digital home. Their solutions include security and navigation software, and they also develop industry-standard validation tools for development, certification, and manufacturing. Digital Keystone licenses its technologies to TV broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers, digital home component developers, and integrated circuit manufacturers. They developed "OCUR", the first secure Pay TV bridge, which was demonstrated by Bill Gates at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show. As of June 2010, their customers had shipped over 21 million certified consumer electronic devices, and Digital Keystone was ranked as one of Silicon Valley's 50 fastest-growing companies in Inc Magazine's Inc 5000 list for 2008. Currently, Digital Keystone develops cloud software solutions for scalable video storage, video streaming, and video AI, licensing patented technologies for various applications including live sports events, automobiles, robots, and drones.

The status of Digital Keystone Inc. (US entity) as of today is still operating, focusing on cloud video and AI solutions. It is distinct from "Digital KeyStone (UK) Ltd" which was acquired in 2016 by Dunstan Thomas Group and later dissolved.

Assignment timeline

  • 2023-05-05 (executed) / recorded 2023-05-05 - Reel 056461/0430
    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: DIGITAL KEYSTONE, INC.
    • Assignee: VIDEOLABS, INC.
    • Correspondent: BRENT E. RUSH, RUSH IP LAW, LLP, 2524 PERRY AVE, CLOVIS, CA, 93611
    • Context: Transfer to new operating entity

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8667304
    2012 : Filed by Digital Keystone Inc
    2014 : Issued to Digital Keystone Inc
    2023 : Assigned to VIDEOLABS Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The assignment from Digital Keystone, Inc. to VIDEOLABS, INC. does not immediately suggest a shell entity. Digital Keystone, Inc. appears to be an operating company. While VIDEOLABS, INC. is the current assignee, without further information, it cannot be definitively identified as a shell entity.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither Digital Keystone, Inc. nor VIDEOLABS, INC. are listed as known NPEs in standard public directories.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Only one assignment is recorded, so no recurrence can be observed in this chain. The correspondent for the single assignment is BRENT E. RUSH, RUSH IP LAW, LLP.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only one assignment is recorded, so no cascading transfers are observed.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the Google Patents record indicates litigation for this patent family (e.g., US case filed in Texas Eastern District Court, Delaware District Court, and PTAB cases), the provided information does not specify the exact filing dates of these lawsuits relative to the May 5, 2023, assignment date. Therefore, it's unclear if the transfer occurred within 6 months prior to the first infringement suit.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no information to suggest that Digital Keystone, Inc. filed for bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — not present. No evidence from the provided data indicates privateering.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion
The only recorded assignment is from Digital Keystone, Inc. to VIDEOLABS, INC. (Reel 056461/0430, recorded 2023-05-05), both of which appear to be operating companies rather than shell entities. Digital Keystone, Inc. is a technology company with a history of product development and licensing. Although litigation is noted for this patent family, without further detail on VIDEOLABS, INC.'s business or the specific timing of litigation relative to the assignment, it most closely aligns with an operating company assertion.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US8667304

Generated 5/15/2026, 12:47:10 PM