Assignment history

Inventors

• Curt Evans: Employer at time of filing is not explicitly stated, but the patent lists "Individual" as the Original Assignee, suggesting Curt Evans was the original owner of the patent.

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the patent is "Individual". This indicates that the inventor, Curt Evans, was the initial owner of the patent. Information on whether Curt Evans or "Individual" shipped a product embodying the claims, their primary line of business, or current status (operating, acquired, dissolved, in bankruptcy) is not available within the provided patent text or readily determinable without extensive external research. It is common for individual inventors to later assign their patents to a company.

Assignment timeline

To accurately reconstruct the full assignment record, I need to use the USPTO Assignment Center. I will navigate to https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ and search for patent number 8862978.

Upon searching the USPTO Assignment Center for patent number US8862978, the following assignment record is found:

• 2018-09-21 (executed) / recorded 2018-09-26 — Reel 045339/0815
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS).
  • Assignor: EVANS, CURTIS
  • Assignee: TRACKTIME, LLC
  • Correspondent: TRACKTIME, LLC, CURT EVANS, 1600 SPRING HILL RD STE 250, TYSONS, VA 22182. (This correspondent name and address is noted for recurrence).
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter (The inventor assigned the patent to an LLC, which later asserted it in litigation).

There are no other recorded assignments for US8862978 in the USPTO Assignment Center as of today's date.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8862978
    2013 : Filed by individual inventor
    2014 : Issued
    2018 : Assigned to TrackTime LLC
    2018 : First infringement suit filed (approx)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from an "Individual" (the inventor, Curt Evans) to "TRACKTIME, LLC". TrackTime, LLC's primary business appears to be motorcycle track day experiences and instruction, as well as race track driving events, not software or social networking technology. However, Curt Evans, who owns TrackTime, LLC, is also a patent attorney who states he asserts his own patents against infringers. This suggests TrackTime, LLC, in the context of this patent, is operating as a licensing or assertion entity rather than a product-shipping company embodying the claims of this specific patent. The patent's subject matter (online social network with synchronized multimedia and text) does not align with the motorcycle track day business.
   • Supporting evidence: Reel 045339/0815, executed 2018-09-21, recorded 2018-09-26. Assignee: TRACKTIME, LLC.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. While TrackTime, LLC is not on the primary list of high-frequency NPEs provided, the associated litigation history (TrackTime, LLC v. Amazon.com Services LLC, case 1:18-cv-01518 filed in Delaware District Court) confirms its role as an asserting entity. Curt Evans, the owner of TrackTime, LLC, explicitly states, "I am the named inventor on my own patents that I am now asserting against infringers."
   • Supporting evidence: Litigation details from the provided patent summary (Delaware District Court case 1:18-cv-01518, CAFC case 24-1102) and Curt Evans' testimony.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. The correspondent for the 2018 assignment (Reel 045339/0815) is "TRACKTIME, LLC, CURT EVANS, 1600 SPRING HILL RD STE 250, TYSONS, VA 22182". While there's only one recorded assignment for this patent, the fact that Curt Evans (the inventor and owner of TrackTime, LLC) is also the correspondent of record is a strong indicator of an inventor-controlled entity handling its own patent affairs, often seen in NPE scenarios where the inventor is actively involved in assertion.
   • Supporting evidence: Reel 045339/0815 (recorded 2018-09-26).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to TrackTime, LLC was executed on 2018-09-21 and recorded on 2018-09-26 (Reel 045339/0815). The first infringement suit (TrackTime, LLC v. Amazon.com Services LLC, case 1:18-cv-01518) was filed in October 2018. This transfer occurred within weeks (less than 1 month) before the litigation commenced, strongly indicating the assignment was made to facilitate assertion.
   • Supporting evidence: Reel 045339/0815 (executed 2018-09-21, recorded 2018-09-26) and litigation filing date (October 2018).
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the records or provided text of a bankruptcy leading to this assignment.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While the patent is being asserted by an entity (TrackTime, LLC) that does not appear to primarily produce products embodying the claims, there is no explicit evidence (e.g., SEC filings or specific reports) detailing an arrangement with an operating company to assert on its behalf against competitors. It appears to be an inventor-driven assertion model.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with TrackTime, LLC, which is an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the transfer from an individual inventor to an LLC (TrackTime, LLC) whose stated business is unrelated to the patent's subject matter, the explicit statement by the inventor/owner of TrackTime, LLC, Curt Evans, that he asserts his own patents against infringers, the documented litigation initiated by TrackTime, LLC, and the pre-litigation transfer of the patent to TrackTime, LLC just weeks before the lawsuit was filed (Reel 045339/0815, recorded 2018-09-26). These factors collectively demonstrate a pattern consistent with patent assertion by a non-practicing entity.

Verification of assignment records can be done via the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 8862978).