Patent 8972576

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

Active provider: Google · gemini-2.5-flash

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

The sole named inventor is Eric C. Anderson. His employer at the time of filing (April 28, 2004) is not determinable from the patent document or available public records. However, a recorded assignment shows Eric C. Anderson assigned his interest in the invention to IPAC Acquisition Subsidiary I, LLC on April 26, 2004, two days before the patent application filing date. This rapid assignment to a holding entity before or at the time of filing is a pattern often seen in patent monetization strategies.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as named on the issued patent, is KDL Scan Designs LLC. There is no evidence that KDL Scan Designs LLC shipped a product embodying the claims of US 8,972,576. Its primary line of business appears to have been patent holding and licensing. As of 2015, KDL Scan Designs LLC's interest in this patent was transferred to Chemtron Research LLC via a merger, suggesting KDL Scan Designs LLC is likely no longer an independent operating entity.

Assignment timeline

  • 2004-04-26 (executed) / recorded 2004-04-28 — Reel 015277/0349

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: ANDERSON, ERIC C.
    • Assignee: IPAC ACQUISITION SUBSIDIARY I, LLC
    • Correspondent: PATRICK K. BOWLES; OLYMPIC LAW GROUP, PLLC; 1904 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 444; SEATTLE, WA 98101
    • Context: Initial transfer of inventor's rights to a holding company.

  • 2006-11-02 (executed) / recorded 2006-11-07 — Reel 018489/0421

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: IPAC ACQUISITION SUBSIDIARY I, LLC
    • Assignee: SCENERA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Correspondent: STEVEN HOFFMAN; SNELL & WILMER LLP; 600 ANTON BLVD., SUITE 1400; COSTA MESA, CA 92626. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer between holding entities.

  • 2011-08-01 (executed) / recorded 2011-10-24 — Reel 027107/0568

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: IPAC ACQUISITION SUBSIDIARY I, LLC
    • Assignee: SCENERA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Correspondent: STEVEN HOFFMAN; SNELL & WILMER LLP; 600 ANTON BLVD., SUITE 1400; COSTA MESA, CA 92626. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Confirmatory assignment or re-transfer between holding entities.

  • 2011-08-03 (executed) / recorded 2011-10-24 — Reel 027107/0600

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: SCENERA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Assignee: FOTOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Correspondent: STEVEN HOFFMAN; SNELL & WILMER LLP; 600 ANTON BLVD., SUITE 1400; COSTA MESA, CA 92626. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Rapid transfer between holding entities.

  • 2011-11-28 (executed) / recorded 2011-11-29 — Reel 027290/0699

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: SCENERA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Assignee: FOTOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Correspondent: STEVEN HOFFMAN; SNELL & WILMER LLP; 600 ANTON BLVD., SUITE 1400; COSTA MESA, CA 92626. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Another rapid transfer between holding entities.

  • 2011-12-12 (executed) / recorded 2012-01-10 — Reel 027512/0307

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: FOTOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    • Assignee: KDL SCAN DESIGNS LLC
    • Correspondent: STEVEN HOFFMAN; SNELL & WILMER LLP; 600 ANTON BLVD., SUITE 1400; COSTA MESA, CA 92626. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer back to the original applicant/assignee of record.

  • 2015-08-26 (executed) / recorded 2015-10-09 — Reel 036828/0702

    • Conveyance: MERGER
    • Assignor: KDL SCAN DESIGNS LLC
    • Assignee: CHEMTRON RESEARCH LLC
    • Correspondent: KEVIN WAGNER; REINHART BOERNER VAN DEUREN P.C.; 1000 NORTH WATER STREET, SUITE 2100; MILWAUKEE, WI 53202
    • Context: Transfer via merger after patent issuance.

  • 2022-07-21 (executed) / recorded 2022-07-21 — Reel 060585/0163

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: CHEMTRON RESEARCH LLC
    • Assignee: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 184 LLC
    • Correspondent: RUTH E. CATO; INTELLECTUAL VENTURES; 3450 188TH AVE NE; BELLEVUE, WA 98008
    • Context: Transfer to a known patent monetization entity.

  • 2022-07-28 (executed) / recorded 2022-08-02 — Reel 060698/0604

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: INTELLECTUAL VENTURES ASSETS 184 LLC
    • Assignee: IOT INNOVATIONS LLC
    • Correspondent: ELIZABETH BARNES; SMITH & HOPEN P.A.; 180 PINE AVE N; OLDSMAR, FL 34677
    • Context: Transfer to the current asserting entity, associated with Empire IP.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8972576
    2004 : Inventor assigns to IPAC Acquisition Subsidiary I
    2006 : IPAC assigns to Scenera Technologies
    2011 : IPAC assigns to Scenera Technologies
         : Scenera assigns to Fotomedia Technologies
         : Scenera reassigns to Fotomedia
    2012 : Fotomedia assigns to KDL Scan Designs
    2015 : KDL Scan Designs merges into Chemtron Research
    2022 : Chemtron Research assigns to Intellectual Ventures
         : Intellectual Ventures assigns to IOT Innovations

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present

    • IPAC Acquisition Subsidiary I, LLC: Transferee from inventor, likely a shell entity for patent aggregation/monetization, no known products.
    • Scenera Technologies, LLC: Appears to be a patent holding entity given its involvement in multiple transfers in a complex chain.
    • Fotomedia Technologies, LLC: Similar to Scenera, acts as an intermediary holding entity within a rapid transfer sequence.
    • KDL Scan Designs LLC: Original applicant, but based on lack of product information and subsequent transfers, appears to be a patent holding entity.
    • Chemtron Research LLC: Acquired KDL Scan Designs via merger and later transferred to Intellectual Ventures, indicative of a patent holding company.
    • Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC: A subsidiary of a well-known NPE, Intellectual Ventures.
    • IoT Innovations LLC: Current assignee, explicitly identified in the litigation summary as an entity associated with Empire IP, a prolific non-practicing entity.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — present

    • Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC (assignee on 2022-07-21, Reel 060585/0163) is part of Intellectual Ventures, a well-known NPE.
    • IoT Innovations LLC (current assignee, Reel 060698/0604) is associated with Empire IP, a prolific non-practicing entity.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present

  4. Cascading transfers — present

    • Multiple consecutive assignments occurred between 2011 and 2012 within a 14-month period: IPAC to Scenera (2011-10-24), Scenera to Fotomedia (2011-10-24), Scenera to Fotomedia (2011-11-29), and Fotomedia to KDL Scan Designs (2012-01-10). These transfers involved the same correspondent attorney and firm (Steven Hoffman, Snell & Wilmer LLP).

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — present

    • The patent issued on March 3, 2015. The transfer from KDL Scan Designs LLC to Chemtron Research LLC occurred via merger with an execution date of 2015-08-26, and recording date 2015-10-09. While this is a merger, it happened after issuance and preceded later transfers to known NPEs. More significantly, the patent was assigned to Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC on July 21, 2022 (Reel 060585/0163), and then to IoT Innovations LLC on July 28, 2022 (Reel 060698/0604). The first identified litigation, IoT Innovations LLC v. SimpliSafe, Inc. (1:23-cv-10352), was filed on February 21, 2023, approximately 7 months after the final transfer to IoT Innovations LLC. This is just outside the typical 6-month window but still strongly indicative of a transfer for assertion purposes.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present

    • No evidence of the original assignee or any subsequent assignors filing for bankruptcy and selling the patent in proceedings.

  7. Privateering — unclear

    • While the current assignee, IoT Innovations LLC, is an NPE, there is no explicit information in the provided text or readily available public records suggesting an operating company transferred the patent specifically to assert it against competitors on its behalf.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present

    • The assignment chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator like RPX, AST, or LOT Network.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on multiple strong signals. The patent has a complex chain of assignments involving several entities that appear to be shell companies, evidenced by rapid transfers and the recurrence of the same correspondent attorney across multiple transfers. Crucially, the chain includes transfers to known NPEs, specifically Intellectual Ventures Assets 184 LLC and the current assignee, IoT Innovations LLC, which is associated with Empire IP, a prolific NPE. The litigation activity of IoT Innovations LLC further confirms its role as a non-practicing entity asserting the patent.

Verification link: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patents/8972576

Generated 6/1/2026, 12:46:26 PM