Assignment history

Inventors

Takaaki Yamabe, employer at the time of filing not determinable from the provided text.

Original assignee

The original assignee was JVCKenwood Corp. Their primary line of business is in electronics and entertainment, including audio and visual products. It is unclear from the provided text whether they shipped a product embodying the claims of this patent. JVCKenwood Corp is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2012-09-14 (executed) / recorded 2012-09-14 — Reel 029141/0088

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: YAMABE, TAKAAKI
  • Assignee: JVC Kenwood Corporation
  • Correspondent: SUZANNE E. KELLEY, KENWOOD USA CORPORATION, 2201 E. DOMINGUEZ ST., LONG BEACH, CA 90801
  • Context: Transfer from inventor to original assignee.

• 2023-09-21 (executed) / recorded 2023-09-21 — Reel 063073/0440

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: JVCKENWOOD CORPORATION
  • Assignee: SOUNDCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: JOHN H. THOMAS, THE THOMAS FIRM PLLC, 203 BRIDGEWATER PL, SUITE 200, WINSTON SALEM, NC 27103
  • Context: Transfer to asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9031259
    2012 : Filed by JVCKenwood Corp
         : Assigned to JVCKenwood Corp
    2015 : Issued
    2023 : Assigned to SOUNDCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer on 2023-09-21 (Reel 063073/0440) is from JVCKenwood Corporation to Soundclear Technologies LLC. "Technologies LLC" in the assignee name, combined with Soundclear Technologies LLC's identification as an NPE on Unified Patents, suggests a shell entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Soundclear Technologies LLC is the current assignee (Reel 063073/0440) and is identified as an NPE by Unified Patents.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Suzanne E. Kelley of KENWOOD USA CORPORATION handled the initial inventor assignment (Reel 029141/0088). John H. Thomas of THE THOMAS FIRM PLLC handled the assignment to Soundclear Technologies LLC (Reel 063073/0440). These are different correspondents.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only two assignments are recorded, separated by a significant period.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the patent has litigation associated with it, the timing of the transfer (2023-09-21) relative to the earliest litigation filing dates (IPR2025-00345 filed 2024-11-20, IPR2025-01096 filed 2025-03-20, US case filed 2024-06-20) is close but not definitively within 6 months before the earliest publicly available litigation record provided.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. JVCKenwood Corp is an active operating company.
7. Privateering — unclear. While JVCKenwood Corp transferred the patent to an NPE, further details, such as SEC filings or public reporting, would be needed to confirm a privateering arrangement.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Soundclear Technologies LLC, an identified NPE.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of Soundclear Technologies LLC, a known patent asserter identified by Unified Patents, as the current assignee (Reel 063073/0440, recorded 2023-09-21) is a strong signal. This, coupled with the transfer from an operating company (JVCKENWOOD CORPORATION) to an entity with "Technologies LLC" in its name, indicates an NPE assertion pattern.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US9031259: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/#!/assignment-result/search-by-patent-or-app-no/[9031259](/patent/9031259)