Assignment history

Inventors

• Gregory G. Raleigh: The sole inventor listed is Gregory G. Raleigh. At the time of the original priority filing in 2008, Raleigh was the founder and CEO of ItsOn, Inc., a company developing cloud-based mobile network solutions. This context suggests the invention was conceived in an operating company environment before being assigned to a separate entity.

Original assignee

The original assignee is Headwater Partners I LLC. This entity, associated with the inventor Gregory Raleigh, appears to be a holding and development company for his intellectual property. It is not known to have shipped commercial products itself. The patent portfolio, including US 8,667,571, was later transferred to an affiliated entity for monetization through licensing and litigation.

Assignment timeline

• 2017-01-04 (executed) / recorded 2017-01-04 — Reel 040094/0173
  • Conveyance: Merger And Change Of Name
  • Assignor: Headwater Partners I LLC
  • Assignee: Headwater Research LLC
  • Correspondent: James H. Salter, THE RAPACKE LAW FIRM, P.A., 2236 1st Street, SUITE 218, Fort Myers, FL 33901
  • Context: This was an internal corporate restructuring, moving the patent from a holding company to a dedicated research and licensing/assertion entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8,667,571
    2009 : Application filed
    2012 : Continuation application filed
    2014 : Patent issues to Headwater Partners I LLC
    2017 : Assigned to Headwater Research LLC
    2023 : Lawsuits filed vs Verizon and T-Mobile
    2025 : Lawsuits filed vs AT&T and Apple

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from Headwater Partners I LLC to Headwater Research LLC (Reel/Frame 040094/0173). The assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is a patent assertion entity that does not produce products. The transfer appears to be for the purpose of monetizing the patent portfolio.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is a known patent assertion entity (NPE) and has engaged in litigation campaigns against major technology and telecommunications companies, as detailed in the litigation summary.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not Present. Only one assignment is on record, so no pattern of a repeat correspondent can be established from this patent's file history alone. However, the correspondent of record, The Rapacke Law Firm, is known to represent various patent assertion entities.

4. Cascading transfers — Not Present. The record shows a single, direct transfer.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. While the transfer to Headwater Research LLC occurred on 2017-01-04, well before the lawsuits filed in 2023 and 2025, it was a necessary step to consolidate the intellectual property into the entity that would later conduct the litigation campaigns. This transfer positioned the patent for future assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not Present. The transfer was part of a corporate merger and name change, not a bankruptcy proceeding.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While the inventor, Gregory Raleigh, is associated with both the original and current assignees, there is no public evidence to suggest this assertion campaign is being conducted on behalf of a separate operating company to target its competitors. It appears to be a direct monetization effort by the inventor's holding company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not Present. The patent is held by a plaintiff-side licensing and litigation entity.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence.

The current assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is a known patent assertion entity that does not manufacture products. The patent was transferred to this entity (Reel 040094/0173) before being used in multiple, large-scale litigation campaigns against major telecommunications and technology companies, confirming a business model centered on patent licensing and enforcement rather than product commercialization.