Patent 9043481

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.

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Ownership chain (7)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2005-06-08 · recorded 2015-04-14 · reel 035402/0416 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    JUN, GYUCHANG; HUANG, KURT H.; KURODA, DUANEBITPASS, INC., CALIFORNIA

    Transfer of inventor's interest to Bitpass, Inc.

  2. 2007-01-22 · recorded 2015-04-14 · reel 035402/0500 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    BITPASS, INC.DIGITAL RIVER, INC., MINNESOTA

    acquisition

  3. 2015-02-12 · reel 034980/0698 · FIRST LIEN GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST PATENTS

    DIGITAL RIVER, INC.MACQUARIE US TRADING LLC, ILLINOIS

    securitization

  4. 2015-02-12 · reel 034981/0429 · SECURITY INTEREST

    DIGITAL RIVER, INC.CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICESLLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT, ILLINOIS

    securitization

  5. 2021-06-01 · reel 056448/0001 · GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST PATENTS

    DIGITAL RIVER, INC.; DIGITAL RIVER MARKETING SOLUTIONS, INC.; DR APAC, LLC; AND OTHERSCERBERUS BUSINESS FINANCE AGENCY, LLC, AS THE COLLATERAL AGENT, NEW YORK

    securitization

  6. 2021-06-01 · recorded 2021-06-02 · reel 057252/0637 · TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL

    MACQUARIE US TRADING LLCDIGITAL RIVER, INC., MINNESOTA

    Release

  7. 2021-06-01 · recorded 2021-06-02 · reel 057252/0663 · TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL

    CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICES LLCDIGITAL RIVER, INC., MINNESOTA

    Release

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

  • Gyuchang Jun (Digital River Inc.)
  • Kurt Huang (Digital River Inc.)
  • Duane Kuroda (Digital River Inc.)

(Employer at time of filing is inferred from the original assignee, Digital River Inc., as is typical for patent applications. No information suggests otherwise.)

Original assignee

The original assignee is Digital River Inc. Digital River is a global e-commerce company that provides online storefronts, payment processing, and digital marketing services for software and game publishers. Their primary line of business involves facilitating online sales and distribution for other companies. As of 2026, Digital River Inc. is still operating.

Assignment timeline

To reconstruct the full assignment record, I will use the USPTO Assignment Center.

  • 2005-06-08 (executed) / recorded 2015-04-14 — Reel 035402/0416

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: JUN, GYUCHANG; HUANG, KURT H.; KURODA, DUANE
    • Assignee: BITPASS, INC., CALIFORNIA
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to Bitpass, Inc.

  • 2007-01-22 (executed) / recorded 2015-04-14 — Reel 035402/0500

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: BITPASS, INC.
    • Assignee: DIGITAL RIVER, INC., MINNESOTA
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Transfer of patent rights from Bitpass, Inc. to Digital River, Inc. This likely represents Digital River acquiring Bitpass or its assets.

  • 2015-02-12 (executed) / recorded 2015-02-12 — Reel 034980/0698

    • Conveyance: FIRST LIEN GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST PATENTS
    • Assignor: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
    • Assignee: MACQUARIE US TRADING LLC, ILLINOIS
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Grant of a security interest, likely as collateral for a loan or financing arrangement.

  • 2015-02-12 (executed) / recorded 2015-02-12 — Reel 034981/0429

    • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
    • Assignor: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.
    • Assignee: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICESLLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT, ILLINOIS
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Grant of a security interest, likely as collateral for a loan or financing arrangement.

  • 2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-01 — Reel 056448/0001

    • Conveyance: GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST PATENTS
    • Assignor: DIGITAL RIVER, INC.; DIGITAL RIVER MARKETING SOLUTIONS, INC.; DR APAC, LLC; AND OTHERS
    • Assignee: CERBERUS BUSINESS FINANCE AGENCY, LLC, AS THE COLLATERAL AGENT, NEW YORK
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Grant of a security interest, likely as collateral for a loan or financing arrangement.

  • 2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-02 — Reel 057252/0637

    • Conveyance: TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL
    • Assignor: MACQUARIE US TRADING LLC
    • Assignee: DIGITAL RIVER, INC., MINNESOTA
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Release of the security interest previously granted to Macquarie US Trading LLC, indicating the associated obligation was satisfied.

  • 2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-02 — Reel 057252/0663

    • Conveyance: TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL
    • Assignor: CORTLAND CAPITAL MARKET SERVICES LLC
    • Assignee: DIGITAL RIVER, INC., MINNESOTA
    • Correspondent: Not specified in Google Patents, will attempt to find on USPTO.
    • Context: Release of the security interest previously granted to Cortland Capital Market Services LLC, indicating the associated obligation was satisfied.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9043481
    2004 : Priority Date
    2005 : Inventors to Bitpass Inc
    2007 : Bitpass to Digital River Inc
    2013 : Application filed
    2015 : Security interest to Macquarie
         : Security interest to Cortland
         : Issued
    2021 : Security interest to Cerberus
         : Release by Macquarie
         : Release by Cortland
    2025 : Expired

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers involve operating companies (Bitpass, Digital River) and financial institutions for security interests. There's no clear evidence of a transfer to a licensing-only shell entity.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the listed assignees (Digital River Inc., Bitpass Inc., Macquarie US Trading LLC, Cortland Capital Market ServicesLLC, Cerberus Business Finance Agency, LLC) are recognized as high-frequency patent assertion entities (NPEs) based on common public lists.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The Google Patents legal events record does not provide correspondent information. A direct USPTO Assignment search would be needed to determine this.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are multiple security interest recordings in 2015 and 2021, these are typical financial transactions rather than a rapid succession of ownership transfers between different entities for the purpose of assertion.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The patent expired in 2025, and there is no indication of litigation.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Digital River Inc. appears to be an active, operating company. The security interests and their releases are normal business financing activities, not indicative of bankruptcy sales.
  7. Privateering — Not present. No evidence suggests Digital River Inc. transferred the patent to an NPE for assertion against competitors.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not end at any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While the full assignment chain from Google Patents legal events shows various transfers and security interests, crucial information for determining NPE patterns, such as correspondent attorneys and detailed contexts beyond what Google provides (e.g., product lines of Bitpass Inc.), is not readily available. Without a direct USPTO Assignment Center search to retrieve correspondent details and further investigation into the business activities of Bitpass Inc., it is not possible to confidently identify NPE patterns. The current chain primarily reflects the original assignee's ownership and financing activities.

Link to USPTO Assignment Center search for US9043481

Generated 6/10/2026, 6:46:01 PM