Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor for US patent 9031581 is Richard D. Haney. At the time of filing (November 7, 2014), Richard D. Haney was the co-founder and CTO of X One, Inc., the original assignee of the patent. He had previously served as President and CEO of AlterWAN, Inc.. Mr. Haney has been issued 40 US Patents in networking systems and mobile communications.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent US9031581 was X One Inc..

X One Inc. was founded in 2004 by Richard D. Haney and Jose J. Picazo with the goal of providing location-sharing solutions for mobile device users. The company states that its products address and solve technological problems associated with location sharing and mapping, positioning its technology as foundational to the "Sharing Economy". X One Inc. has developed numerous patents in this field and has actively defended its intellectual property, for instance, against Uber Technologies Inc. in patent validity challenges. X One Inc. appears to be an operating company focused on developing and licensing its location-sharing technology, and its website was active as of 2023.

Assignment timeline

Due to the inability to perform a live search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Center, this timeline is constructed using the "reassignment" events listed in the authoritative Google Patents document for US9031581. Therefore, details such as reel/frame numbers and correspondent information are not available for these entries.

• 2014-11-07 (executed) / recorded (not specified) — Reel (not specified)

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: HANEY, RICHARD D.
  • Assignee: X One Inc
  • Correspondent: (not specified)
  • Context: Transfer from individual inventor to founding company.

• 2025-11-24 (executed) / recorded (not specified) — Reel (not specified)

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: X ONE, INC.
  • Assignee: PINEY WOODS MOBILITY LLC
  • Correspondent: (not specified)
  • Context: Transfer from original operating company to a new entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9031581
    2005 : Priority date
    2014 : Filed by X One Inc; inventor assigned to X One Inc
    2015 : Patent issued
    2025 : Assigned to Piney Woods Mobility LLC
    2026 : Infringement suits filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present
   The patent was transferred from X One, Inc., an entity that developed mobile systems and location-sharing technology and defended its patents, to Piney Woods Mobility LLC on 2025-11-24. Piney Woods Mobility LLC is a Texas-based entity that has filed patent infringement lawsuits against major operating companies like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Samsung Electronics, alleging infringement related to their location-sharing services. There is no public indication that Piney Woods Mobility LLC develops or sells products. The name "Mobility LLC" is also consistent with a licensing-focused entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present
   Piney Woods Mobility LLC is actively engaged in patent assertion, having filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits in February 2026 against prominent technology and telecommunications companies over location-sharing services. This activity identifies it as an asserting entity.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear
   Correspondent information is not available from the Google Patents legal event data, which was used as the source for the assignment timeline due to the inability to perform a live USPTO Assignment Center search.

4. Cascading transfers — not present
   Only two assignment transfers are noted, separated by a period of approximately eleven years (2014 to 2025), which does not indicate cascading transfers.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present
   The patent was assigned to Piney Woods Mobility LLC on 2025-11-24. Multiple infringement lawsuits naming this patent were filed in February 2026 (e.g., 2:26-cv-00123 on 2026-02-13, 2:26-cv-00122 on 2026-02-13, 2:26-cv-00121 on 2026-02-13). This transfer occurred approximately three months before the first known litigation filings, falling well within the 6-month window that signals a pre-litigation transfer.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present
   There is no information to suggest that X One, Inc. transferred the patent due to bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering — unclear
   While X One, Inc. is a technology developer and the patent was transferred to an asserting entity, there is no publicly available evidence detailing a specific privateering agreement or arrangement between X One, Inc. and Piney Woods Mobility LLC.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present
   The current assignee, Piney Woods Mobility LLC, is an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The high confidence verdict is driven by several strong signals. The transfer of the patent from technology developer X One Inc. to Piney Woods Mobility LLC on 2025-11-24 is a shell-entity transfer, as Piney Woods Mobility LLC does not appear to produce products and has immediately engaged in patent assertion. This transfer directly precedes a wave of infringement lawsuits filed by Piney Woods Mobility LLC in February 2026, indicating a pre-litigation transfer within a three-month window. The multiple lawsuits against major operating companies also confirm Piney Woods Mobility LLC as a known asserter.

For verification, see the USPTO Patent Assignment Search page for US9031581: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patents/[9031581](/patent/9031581)