Assignment history

Inventors

• John Christopher Harvey: Employer not determinable from the provided patent text.
• James William Cuddihy: Employer not determinable from the provided patent text.

No unusual patterns in inventor departure can be determined as employer information at the time of filing is not provided.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Personalized Media Communications LLC.

Based on the patent's description, it appears Personalized Media Communications LLC was involved in developing and managing systems for delivering personalized and interactive content, which could imply product development or service provision in this area. However, the provided text does not explicitly state whether they shipped a product embodying the claims or their primary line of business beyond the scope of the patent. Their current status, as indicated by the "Current Assignee" field, is no longer the owner, as Contentnexus LLC is listed.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) shows the following assignments for US Patent 8,839,293:

• 2000-09-22 (executed) / recorded 2000-09-22 — Reel 011387/0932

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HARVEY, JOHN C.; CUDDIHY, JAMES W.
  • Assignee: PERSONALIZED MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS, L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: SUTHERLAND, ASBILL & BRENNAN LLP 1275 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W. WASHINGTON, DC 20004-2404
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to the original assignee.

• 2004-08-05 (executed) / recorded 2004-08-05 — Reel 014902/0979

  • Conveyance: Termination and Release of Patent Trademark and License Mortgage
  • Assignor: FLEET NATIONAL BANK, AS AGENT
  • Assignee: HOPKINS MANUFACTURING CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL J. FEGIN, ESQ. ONE LINCOLN CENTER, 110 W. FAYETTE ST. SYRACUSE, NY 13202
  • Context: Release of a security interest from Fleet National Bank to Hopkins Manufacturing Corporation. This indicates Hopkins Manufacturing Corporation likely had a security interest related to the patent.

• 2025-06-09 (executed) / recorded 2025-06-09 — Reel 063380/0115

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: PERSONALIZED MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS, LLC
  • Assignee: CONTENTNEXUS LLC
  • Correspondent: JOHN R. BUENNING, BUENNING & ASSOCIATES, S.C. 2101 S. 48TH STREET, SUITE 108, LINCOLN, NE 68506
  • Context: Transfer from the original assignee to Contentnexus LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8839293
    1995 : Filed by Personalized Media Communications LLC
    2000 : Assigned from inventors to PMC LLC
    2004 : Security interest released to Hopkins Mfg Corp
    2014 : Patent granted
    2025 : Assigned to Contentnexus LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from Personalized Media Communications, LLC to Contentnexus LLC (Reel 063380/0115, 2025-06-09) is a strong signal. Personalized Media Communications (PMC) is widely identified as a non-practicing entity (NPE) that generates no products and focuses solely on licensing and litigation, with its CEO admitting under oath that it has never conducted R&D. The name "Contentnexus LLC" is generic and suggestive of a licensing-only entity. While more information about Contentnexus LLC's business operations would be ideal, the transfer from a known NPE to another generically named LLC aligns with this pattern.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Personalized Media Communications, LLC is a known and high-frequency asserter (patent troll). They have been involved in over 20 federal court litigations, including against Apple, Google, Amazon, and Netflix, asserting numerous patents claiming priority to 1980s applications. This is a strong signal of an NPE.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear.

   • SUTHERLAND, ASBILL & BRENNAN LLP appears on Reel 011387/0932.
   • MICHAEL J. FEGIN, ESQ. appears on Reel 014902/0979.
   • JOHN R. BUENNING, BUENNING & ASSOCIATES, S.C. appears on Reel 063380/0115.

   While John R. Buenning has appeared as correspondent for other NPEs in patent assertions (based on analyst's training data), for this specific patent chain, there is no recurrence of the same correspondent across multiple assignment links.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There are two assignments recorded for this patent after issuance, separated by a significant time period (2000 and 2025). The 2004 record is a release of security interest rather than an assignment of ownership.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The patent was issued in 2014. The last assignment to Contentnexus LLC occurred on 2025-06-09. While Personalized Media Communications LLC (the assignor) has a history of extensive litigation, whether Contentnexus LLC has initiated litigation involving this specific patent within six months of its acquisition is not determinable from the provided information.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the assignment records or provided context that Personalized Media Communications LLC or any other assignor went through bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Personalized Media Communications LLC is an NPE, the provided information does not indicate a specific operating company transferring the patent to PMC to assert against competitors on its behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is driven by the presence of a known asserter, Personalized Media Communications, LLC, in the chain, as evidenced by the assignment to Contentnexus LLC (Reel 063380/0115, 2025-06-09) and the extensive litigation history of PMC. The transfer from PMC, an entity that publicly admitted it does not produce products and focuses on licensing and litigation, to Contentnexus LLC, a generically named LLC, further strengthens this conclusion.

USPTO Assignment Center search page for verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/