Assignment history

Inventors

The sole inventor listed on US Patent 9,042,910 is Carlos A. Perez Lafuente. At the time of filing, it is highly probable that Mr. Perez Lafuente was associated with AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL, as he assigned his interest in the patent to the company on the filing date, April 11, 2014. There are no unusual patterns indicating a mass departure of inventors from the original assignee.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL. This is a Spanish entity. While search results for "Affirma Consulting" (a similarly named, but seemingly distinct, US-based company) indicate a full-service technology and business consulting firm providing custom software, cloud, and digital marketing solutions, there is no direct evidence from the available information that AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL shipped a product directly embodying the claims of US 9,042,910. Their primary line of business appears to be consulting, which could involve the development of technology that might utilize such patented methods. The current operating status of the specific Spanish entity, AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL, is not explicitly detailed as operating, acquired, dissolved, or in bankruptcy from the provided search results beyond their assignment of the patent in 2023.

Assignment timeline

• 2014-04-11 (executed) / recorded 2014-04-28 — Reel 032543/0096
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: PEREZ LAFUENTE, CARLOS ALBERTO
  • Assignee: AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES S.L.
  • Correspondent: AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES, S.L., Calle Miguel Arredondo 12-16, 28027 Madrid ES
  • Context: Original assignment from inventor to the initial corporate assignee.
• 2023-07-17 (executed) / recorded 2023-08-01 — Reel 058863/0651
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL
  • Assignee: AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC, 100 Congress Ave Ste 2000, Austin TX 78701
  • Context: Transfer to a patent assertion entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9042910
    2014 : Filed; inventor assigned to AFIRMA
    2015 : Issued
    2023 : AFIRMA assigned to Avant Location Technologies LLC
    2024 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was transferred to AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC on 2023-07-17, recorded on Reel 058863/0651. This entity's correspondent address, 100 Congress Ave Ste 2000, Austin TX 78701, is a known address for numerous registered agent services and other businesses that use shared office space, which is a common characteristic of shell entities.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC is actively asserting this patent in several district court litigation cases, as detailed in the litigation summary, confirming its role as a patent asserter.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. There are two distinct correspondents in the assignment chain: AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES S.L. for the initial assignment and AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC itself for the subsequent transfer. While the correspondent for Avant Location Technologies LLC using a registered agent address can be a weak indicator, there isn't recurrence of the same attorney or firm across the chain in these records to make this signal "present" by the specified criteria.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two assignments in the chain, separated by approximately nine years, which does not constitute multiple consecutive transfers in a short period.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC was executed on 2023-07-17 and recorded on 2023-08-01. The earliest infringement suit identified involving this patent (e.g., 2:24-cv-00165) was filed on March 8, 2024. This transfer occurred approximately eight months prior to the first reported litigation, indicating a transfer arranged in anticipation of assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no information to suggest that the original assignee, AFIRMA CONSULTING & TECHNOLOGIES SL, filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information in the provided context to suggest privateering activity.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current assignee, AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC, is an asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict is high confidence NPE due to the presence of multiple strong signals: the transfer of the patent to AVANT LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES LLC, which exhibits characteristics of a shell entity (registered agent address), its documented activity as a known asserter in ongoing litigations, and the timing of the transfer occurring approximately eight months before the commencement of the first infringement suits.

For verification of assignment records, please visit the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/assignments/assignment-result?query=9042910