Assignment history

Inventors

• R. Drew Major: Co-founder of Move Networks, Inc. At the time of filing, Major was an executive at Move Networks, the company commercializing the adaptive streaming technology.
• Mark B. Hurst: An engineer and executive at Move Networks, Inc. at the time of filing.

The inventors assigned their rights to their employer, Move Networks, which was the entity developing and commercializing the technology. This is a standard arrangement and does not indicate an unusual pattern.

Original assignee

The patent application was filed on April 28, 2005. The first recorded assignment shows the inventors assigned their rights to Move Networks, Inc. on July 28, 2006. However, the issued patent lists EchoStar Technologies LLC as the original assignee. This discrepancy is resolved by the assignment timeline, which shows that Move Networks' assets, including this patent application, were acquired by EchoStar prior to the patent's issuance in 2014.

Move Networks, Inc. was an operating company based in Utah that pioneered adaptive bitrate streaming technology. It shipped products embodying the claims, providing streaming services for major broadcasters like ABC, Fox, and ESPN. The company faced financial difficulties and its patent portfolio and other assets were acquired by an EchoStar subsidiary in a foreclosure sale in late 2010.

Assignment timeline

• 2006-07-28 (executed) / recorded 2006-08-01 — Reel 018267/0748

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: R. Drew Major; Mark B. Hurst
  • Assignee: Move Networks, Inc.
  • Correspondent: R. Trevor Carter, Traskbritt, P.C., Salt Lake City, UT
  • Context: Standard assignment of invention from employees to their employer, the operating company Move Networks.

• 2010-05-13 (executed) / recorded 2010-05-18 — Reel 024446/0826

  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: Move Networks, Inc.
  • Assignee: Silicon Valley Bank
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey M. Linstone, Ropes & Gray LLP, Boston, MA
  • Context: Securitization of intellectual property assets as collateral for debt financing provided by Silicon Valley Bank.

• 2010-12-31 (executed) / recorded 2011-01-20 — Reel 025624/0239

  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: Silicon Valley Bank
  • Assignee: Move Networks, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Stephen T. Schott, Move Networks, Inc., American Fork, UT
  • Context: Release of the security interest, clearing title for the patent assets to be transferred in a subsequent transaction.

• 2010-12-31 (executed) / recorded 2011-01-20 — Reel 025624/0246

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Move Networks, Inc.
  • Assignee: EchoStar Advanced Technologies L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Stephen T. Schott, Move Networks, Inc., American Fork, UT
  • Context: Asset acquisition by EchoStar following a foreclosure sale of the financially distressed Move Networks.

• Recorded 2013-02-28 — Reel 029969/0719

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: EchoStar Advanced Technologies L.L.C.
  • Assignee: DISH Digital L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Bebe L. Fairchild, EchoStar Corporation, Englewood, CO
  • Context: Internal corporate re-organization and rebranding within the EchoStar/DISH corporate family.

• 2014-08-04 (executed) / recorded 2014-08-04 — Reel 033320/0993

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: DISH Digital L.L.C.
  • Assignee: EchoStar Technologies L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Bebe L. Fairchild, EchoStar Corporation, Englewood, CO. This is a recurring correspondent for the EchoStar/DISH entities.
  • Context: Internal transfer restructuring asset ownership within the EchoStar/DISH corporate family.

• Recorded 2018-06-18 — Reel 045155/0798

  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: EchoStar Technologies L.L.C.
  • Assignee: DISH Technologies L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Bebe Fairchild, EchoStar Corporation, Englewood, CO. This is a recurring correspondent.
  • Context: Internal corporate re-organization and rebranding, finalizing the current assignee's name.

• 2021-04-05 (executed) / recorded 2021-04-05 — Reel 058349/0984

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: R. Drew Major; Mark B. Hurst
  • Assignee: DISH Technologies LLC
  • Correspondent: Bebe Fairchild, DISH Network, Englewood, CO. This is a recurring correspondent.
  • Context: Confirmatory assignment to clean up the chain of title, likely in preparation for an assertion campaign.

• 2021-11-30 (executed) / recorded 2021-12-06 — Reel 062234/0002

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: DISH Technologies L.L.C. (and other DISH entities)
  • Assignee: U.S. Bank, National Association, as Collateral Agent
  • Correspondent: Ryan T. Smith, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, Denver, CO
  • Context: Securitization of the patent as collateral in a large-scale corporate financing arrangement.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8868772
    2005 : Application filed by Move Networks inventors
    2006 : Assigned to Move Networks Inc
    2010 : Collateral for Silicon Valley Bank loan
         : Acquired by EchoStar from Move Networks
    2013 : Name change to DISH Digital LLC
    2014 : Assigned to EchoStar Technologies LLC
         : Patent Issued
    2018 : Name change to DISH Technologies LLC
    2021 : Confirmatory assignment from inventors
         : Collateral for US Bank loan
    2023 : First infringement suit filed by DISH

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers in the chain are between operating companies (Move Networks, EchoStar, DISH) or are name changes and internal reorganizations between entities within the same corporate family. The final assignee, DISH Technologies LLC, is the R&D subsidiary of DISH Network, a major operating company.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, DISH Technologies LLC (along with its parent DISH Network and affiliate Sling TV), is a known, high-volume patent asserter. It is actively litigating this patent and its family members against competitors in the streaming media industry.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Bebe L. Fairchild of EchoStar/DISH appears as the correspondent on multiple internal transfers and name changes, specifically on reels 029969/0719, 033320/0993, 045155/0798, and 058349/0984. This indicates a consistent, centrally managed IP strategy but within a single corporate family, which is not itself a strong NPE signal.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers are spread out over many years and appear to correspond to legitimate corporate events (acquisition, reorganizations) rather than a rapid series of transfers designed to obscure ownership.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The confirmatory assignment from the original inventors to DISH Technologies LLC was executed and recorded on April 5, 2021 (Reel 058349/0984). While this was more than 24 months before the first suits were filed in September 2023, such "clean-up" assignments are a common preparatory step for a planned litigation campaign to ensure standing is unchallengeable.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Present. The core technology and this patent application were acquired by EchoStar from Move Networks, Inc. on December 31, 2010 (Reel 025624/0246) after Move Networks, the original developer, became financially distressed and its assets were sold.

7. Privateering — Not present. The entity asserting the patent is DISH Technologies LLC and its corporate parent/affiliates, which are operating companies. The patent has not been transferred to a third-party NPE to sue on their behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is not owned by any known defensive aggregator and is instead being actively asserted.

Verdict

• Operating-company assertion

This verdict is based on the fact that the current owner and plaintiff, DISH Technologies LLC, is the technology arm of DISH Network, a major US satellite television provider and owner of the Sling TV streaming service. The litigation campaign targets direct competitors to Sling TV (e.g., fuboTV, Vidgo). While the patent was acquired via a "fire-sale" from the original innovator (Move Networks per Reel 025624/0246) and there are signals of litigation preparation (Reel 058349/0984), the asserter is a large, product-shipping company suing rivals in its own market, which is the definition of an operating-company assertion, not a non-practicing entity (NPE) model.

The full assignment history can be verified at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search by searching for Patent Number 8868772.