Assignment history

Inventors

• Sathiyamoorthy Dhanapal: The inventor's affiliation at the time of the 2012 filing was Ericsson Television Inc., the original assignee. There is no publicly available information to suggest an unusual departure from the company immediately following the patent filing.

Original Assignee

• Ericsson Television Inc.: The original assignee was a division of the global telecommunications company Ericsson. It was an operating company that developed and sold video processing and content delivery solutions, including encoders, transcoders, and other infrastructure for television broadcasters and service providers. The technology claimed in the '206 patent is directly related to this line of business. Ericsson has since restructured its media-related businesses, selling its "Media Solutions" division to One Equity Partners in 2019, which was then rebranded as MediaKind.

Assignment Timeline

2012-10-03 (executed) / recorded 2012-11-27 — Reel 029353/0959

• Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
• Assignor: DHANAPAL, SATHIYAMOORTHY
• Assignee: ERICSSON TELEVISION INC., GEORGIA
• Correspondent: NIXON & VANDERHYE P.C., 901 N GLEBE RD 11TH FL, ARLINGTON, VA, 22203
• Context: Standard assignment from the inventor to their employer, Ericsson Television Inc., at the time of filing.

2021-02-18 (executed) / recorded 2021-05-06 — Reel 056461/0815

• Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
• Assignor: ERICSSON TELEVISION INC.
• Assignee: ERICSSON AB
• Correspondent: WILLIAM J. LONG, ERICSSON INC., 6300 LEGACY DRIVE, PLANO, TX 75024
• Context: Internal reorganization transferring the patent from a US-based subsidiary to the Swedish parent company, Ericsson AB.

2024-03-27 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-14 — Reel 066708/0420

• Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
• Assignor: ERICSSON AB
• Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
• Correspondent: WILLIAM J. LONG, ERICSSON INC., 6300 LEGACY DRIVE, PLANO, TX 75024
• Context: Internal reorganization, likely a change of name or restructuring within the parent Ericsson corporate entity.

2024-03-27 (executed) / recorded 2024-06-26 — Reel 066847/0682

• Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
• Assignor: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
• Assignee: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
• Correspondent: GREGORY S. DONAHUE, THE LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY S. DONAHUE, 10600 N. KENDALL DRIVE, SUITE 512, MIAMI, FL 33176
• Context: Transfer from the original operating company (Ericsson) to a newly formed Texas LLC, Novacloud Licensing LLC, for the purpose of patent assertion.

2025-01-27 (executed) / recorded 2025-02-13 — Reel 068412/0322

• Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
• Assignor: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
• Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
• Correspondent: GREGORY S. DONAHUE, THE LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY S. DONAHUE, 10600 N. KENDALL DRIVE, SUITE 512, MIAMI, FL 33176. This is the same correspondent who recorded the transfer to Novacloud.
• Context: A security agreement was recorded, indicating that Ericsson (the seller) has retained a financial interest in the patent, likely related to the financing of the purchase or a share of future licensing/litigation revenue. This is a common structure in "privateering" arrangements.

2025-04-09 (executed) / recorded 2025-04-18 — Reel 069279/0815

• Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
• Assignor: NOVACLOUD LICENSING LLC
• Assignee: NCLD1 LLC
• Correspondent: Michael W. O'SULLIVAN, O'SULLIVAN KEYES, 1999 S. BASCOM AVE. STE. 700, CAMPBELL, CA 95008
• Context: A further security agreement was recorded, assigning a security interest from Novacloud to a related entity, NCLD1 LLC, suggesting complex financing or organizational structuring typical of patent assertion campaigns.

Timeline Diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8949206
    2012 : Filed by Ericsson Television
    2015 : Patent Issued
    2021 : Internal transfer to Ericsson AB
    2024 : Transfer to Novacloud Licensing LLC
         : Infringement suit vs AT&T filed
    2025 : Security interest to Ericsson
         : Security interest to NCLD1 LLC
         : Suit vs Comcast
         : Suit vs Charter

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from Ericsson, an operating company, to Novacloud Licensing LLC on March 27, 2024 (recorded June 26, 2024, Reel 066847/0682). Novacloud Licensing LLC is a Texas-based entity with a name indicative of a licensing purpose, and it began asserting the patent within months of the transfer.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Novacloud Licensing LLC is documented by industry trackers like Unified Patents as a patent assertion entity that began a litigation campaign in 2024 after acquiring patents from Ericsson.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Gregory S. Donahue of The Law Office of Gregory S. Donahue acted as the correspondent for both the transfer from Ericsson to Novacloud Licensing LLC (Reel 066847/0682) and the subsequent security interest granted back to Ericsson (Reel 068412/0322). This indicates he is the agent managing the legal mechanics of this specific assertion vehicle.

4. Cascading transfers — Present. The assignment to Novacloud in March 2024 was followed by two security agreements in early 2025 (Reels 068412/0322 and 069279/0815), indicating a rapid series of legal and financial transactions structuring the asset for an assertion campaign.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The assignment to Novacloud was executed on March 27, 2024. The first litigation (against AT&T) was filed on June 7, 2024. This transfer occurred less than three months before the first lawsuit, clearly establishing the patent's move to an assertion entity in preparation for litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The transfer was from an active and solvent operating company, Ericsson.

7. Privateering — Present. The security agreement recorded on February 13, 2025 (Reel 068412/0322) shows the original assignor, Ericsson, retaining a security interest in the patent after transferring it to Novacloud. This arrangement is a strong indicator of privateering, where the original operating company finances or shares in the proceeds of the assertion campaign carried out by the NPE against its competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is held by an assertion entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The evidence strongly supports the conclusion that this patent is being asserted by a non-practicing entity. The transfer from operating company Ericsson to Novacloud Licensing LLC (Reel 066847/0682) just months before the filing of multiple infringement lawsuits is a classic pre-litigation transfer. Furthermore, the security agreement granting Ericsson an interest in the patent post-transfer (Reel 068412/0322) is a hallmark of a "privateering" arrangement, where the original owner backs the assertion campaign.

Verify at: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for Pat. No. 8,949,206