Assignment history

Inventors

• Satoru Sakazume (JVCKenwood Corp)

Original assignee

JVCKenwood Corp. JVCKenwood is a multinational electronics company that manufactures a wide range of products, including car electronics, professional systems, and home and personal audio. It is highly probable they shipped products embodying the claims, given their business. JVCKenwood Corp is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2010-12-01 (executed) / recorded 2010-12-21 — Reel 025879/0009

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: JVCKenwood Corp
  • Assignee: Victor Company of Japan, Limited
  • Correspondent: Edward H. Lentz, JVC Americas Corp., 1700 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019
  • Context: Internal reorg (parent company change of name/structure)

• 2012-04-06 (executed) / recorded 2012-04-25 — Reel 027734/0628

  • Conveyance: Merger
  • Assignor: Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
  • Assignee: JVC Kenwood Corporation
  • Correspondent: Edward H. Lentz, JVC Americas Corp., 1700 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal reorg (merger of corporate entities)

• 2022-03-24 (executed) / recorded 2022-04-26 — Reel 056467/0315

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: JVCKENWOOD Corporation
  • Assignee: ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: David A. Stein, ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC, 14090 Southwest Fwy, Suite 300, Sugar Land, TX, 77478
  • Context: Transfer to asserter

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9042448
    2009 : Filed by JVCKenwood Corp
    2010 : Assigned to Victor Co of Japan Ltd
    2011 : Published US20110075734A1
    2012 : Assigned to JVC Kenwood Corp
    2015 : Issued US9042448B2
    2022 : Assigned to Advanced Coding Tech LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The assignment from JVCKENWOOD Corporation to ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC (Reel 056467/0315, recorded 2022-04-26) shows a transfer from a known operating company to an LLC with a generic, licensing-suggestive name ("ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC") and a registered-agent address in Sugar Land, TX. This is a common pattern for shell entities.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present. ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC is a known patent asserter, as indicated by the litigation records on Google Patents, including PTAB cases and US district court cases filed in Texas Northern, Western, and Eastern District Courts in 2024 and 2025.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Edward H. Lentz of JVC Americas Corp. appears as the correspondent for both the 2010 assignment (Reel 025879/0009) and the 2012 merger (Reel 027734/0628). This indicates the consistent use of a particular legal counsel for internal corporate patent matters within the original operating company structure. David A. Stein of ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC is listed as the correspondent for the 2022 assignment to ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC (Reel 056467/0315).

4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are three transfers in total, but they are spaced over several years, not in quick succession. The transfers prior to the NPE transfer are internal corporate reorganizations.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC on 2022-03-24 (executed) / 2022-04-26 (recorded) (Reel 056467/0315). The earliest reported litigation found in Google Patents is a US case filed in Texas Eastern District Court on 2024-05-13 (2:24-cv-00353). While this is outside the 6-month window, the pattern of acquisition by a known NPE followed by assertion is clear. Further litigation records show cases filed in 2025, which are closer in time to the current date, reinforcing the assertion pattern.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. The original assignee, JVCKenwood Corp, is still operating.

7. Privateering — unclear. While the patent was transferred from an operating company to a known NPE, there is no public information in the provided context or from a quick cross-reference (Google Patents legal events) to definitively state if JVCKenwood Corp is benefiting from or directing the assertions made by ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC, which is a known asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of ADVANCED CODING TECHNOLOGIES LLC, a known patent asserter per Google Patents litigation records, as the current assignee (Reel 056467/0315, recorded 2022-04-26), coupled with the transfer from an operating company to a shell-like entity with a generic name and registered agent address, strongly indicates an NPE pattern. This transfer also precedes multiple infringement suits filed in district courts.

USPTO Assignment Center search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (Search for patent number 9042448)