Assignment history

Inventors

• Tom Freeman: Likely employed by VoiceBox Technologies Corp. at the time of the original priority date (February 6, 2007) and/or filing date (September 3, 2013), as VoiceBox Technologies Corp. is listed as the original assignee.
• Mike Kennwick: Likely employed by VoiceBox Technologies Corp. at the time of the original priority date (February 6, 2007) and/or filing date (September 3, 2013), as VoiceBox Technologies Corp. is listed as the original assignee.

No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, are evident from the provided information.

Original assignee

VoiceBox Technologies Corp.

• Product Embodiment: VoiceBox Technologies Corp. was a developer of natural language understanding and speech recognition software, licensing its technology for use in various consumer electronics and automotive applications (e.g., Toyota, Chrysler, Samsung). Therefore, they likely shipped products embodying the claims of US 8,886,536, which relate to targeted advertisements and tracking in voice recognition contexts.
• Primary Line of Business: Natural language processing and speech recognition software development.
• Current Status: VoiceBox Technologies Corp. was acquired by Nuance Communications in October 2018. Prior to this acquisition, the patent US 8,886,536 was assigned to VB Assets, LLC.

Assignment timeline

• 2014-04-30 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: FREEMAN, TOM; KENNEWICK, MIKE (Inventors)
  • Assignee: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Formal assignment of inventorship rights to an affiliated corporate entity.

• 2014-05-01 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: MERGER
  • Assignor: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
  • Assignee: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Internal corporate reorganization via merger.

• 2017-12-22 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
  • Assignee: ORIX GROWTH CAPITAL, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Securitization of the patent portfolio as collateral for financing.

• 2018-04-05 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
  • Assignor: ORIX GROWTH CAPITAL, LLC
  • Assignee: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Release of the security interest; the patent is no longer held as collateral.

• 2018-07-25 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel 051581/0216 (referencing a later corrective assignment)

  • Conveyance: NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
  • Assignee: VB ASSETS, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership to a likely licensing/assertion entity, preceding the acquisition of VoiceBox Technologies Corp.

• 2019-04-12 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: VB ASSETS, LLC
  • Assignee: DELPHI ASSET MANAGEMENT CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Securitization of the patent portfolio by VB Assets, LLC for financing.

• 2019-06-13 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
  • Assignor: DELPHI ASSET MANAGEMENT CORPORATION
  • Assignee: VB ASSETS, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Release of the security interest.

• 2020-01-22 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: VB ASSETTS LLC (recorded with typo)
  • Assignee: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Apparent transfer to an operating company, potentially an error or a temporary holding, later clarified by a corrective assignment.

• 2020-09-22 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: VOICEBOX TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
  • Assignee: VB ASSETS, LLC
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Corrective assignment confirming the transfer of ownership from VoiceBox Technologies Corporation to VB Assets, LLC, superseding or clarifying prior records, including the previous assignment to Nuance. This entry explicitly states it corrects previous recording at Reel: 051581 Frame: 0216, referring to the 2018-07-25 transfer.

• 2025-04-08 (executed) / recorded N/A — Reel Not provided in source

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: VB ASSETS, LLC
  • Assignee: CONTINGENCY CAPITAL FUND A LP
  • Correspondent: Not provided in source.
  • Context: Securitization of the patent portfolio by VB Assets, LLC for financing.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8886536
    2013 : Application filed by VoiceBox
    2014 : Assigned from Inventors to VoiceBox Inc
         : VoiceBox Inc merged into VoiceBox Corp
         : Patent Issued
    2017 : Security interest to ORIX
    2018 : Security interest released
         : Assigned to VB Assets LLC
         : VoiceBox Corp acquired by Nuance
    2019 : Security interest to Delphi
         : Security interest released
    2020 : Apparent assignment to Nuance
         : Corrective assignment to VB Assets LLC
    2025 : Security interest to Contingency Capital Fund A LP

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was assigned to VB Assets, LLC (executed 2018-07-25, Reel 051581/0216 referenced). The name "VB Assets, LLC" is characteristic of a shell entity, and VB Assets, LLC is actively litigating this patent against major technology companies (e.g., Google, Apple, Samsung, SoundHound), as detailed in the litigation summary.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. VB Assets, LLC is the current assignee and is a known patent asserter. They are actively asserting US 8,886,536 in multiple district court cases (e.g., 1:26-cv-00443, 1:24-cv-01368, 1:24-cv-01279, 2:24-cv-00828, 1:19-cv-01410) and have faced PTAB proceedings (IPR2025-00869), which are all listed in the patent's litigation history.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The provided Google Patents "Legal events" data does not include correspondent attorney names or firms for any of the assignment records, so this signal cannot be assessed.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are several transfers related to internal reorganizations and security interests, there are no multiple consecutive ownership assignments between distinct shell LLCs in a short timeframe that would indicate a typical NPE cascading pattern. The primary ownership transfer from VoiceBox Technologies Corp to VB Assets, LLC is a single step.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to VB Assets, LLC was executed on 2018-07-25. The first infringement suit involving this patent, VB Assets, LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al. (1:19-cv-01410), was filed on July 26, 2019. This is approximately one year after the transfer, falling outside the typical 6-month window for a "pre-litigation transfer" signal.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. VoiceBox Technologies Corp. was acquired by Nuance Communications, not involved in a bankruptcy fire-sale where the patent was sold from distressed assets.
7. Privateering — Present. The transfer of the patent from VoiceBox Technologies Corporation to VB Assets, LLC (a likely NPE) was executed on 2018-07-25, just a few months prior to VoiceBox Technologies Corp.'s acquisition by Nuance Communications in October 2018. This timing is highly suggestive that the patent was spun off for assertion by the original owners/investors, rather than being part of the acquisition by an operating company, which is a common privateering-related NPE strategy.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, VB Assets, LLC, and the security interest holder, Contingency Capital Fund A LP, are not defensive aggregators like RPX or AST.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict is high confidence due to the presence of multiple strong NPE signals. The patent was transferred to VB Assets, LLC (executed 2018-07-25, Reel 051581/0216 referenced), an entity whose name and extensive litigation activity clearly indicate it is a shell entity and a known patent asserter. Furthermore, this transfer occurred shortly before the original operating company, VoiceBox Technologies Corp., was acquired by Nuance Communications in October 2018, which is a strong indicator of a privateering-related strategy to assert the patent. [cite: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8886536/en]