Assignment history

Inventors

• Leigh M. Rothschild (Self-employed inventor at the time of filing, as he is known to be a prolific inventor operating through various entities rather than being employed by a single operating company).

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent is SRR Patent Holdings LLC. It is unclear from the provided information whether SRR Patent Holdings LLC shipped a product embodying the claims. Information suggests SRR Holdings LLC provides general contracting services including HVAC, which does not appear related to digital identification systems. SRR Patent Holdings LLC's current status is active, based on its participation in other patent litigation.

Assignment timeline

• 2009-04-23 (executed) / recorded YYYY-MM-DD (date not available from source) — Reel 023133/0088

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ROTHSCHILD, LEIGH M.
  • Assignee: LMR INVENTIONS, LLC
  • Correspondent: ROTHSCHILD, LEIGH M., 102 E. WATER STREET, SUITE E, LANSING, IL 60438. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer from individual inventor to an LLC associated with the inventor.

• 2011-07-27 (executed) / recorded YYYY-MM-DD (date not available from source) — Reel 026779/0815

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: LMR INVENTIONS, LLC
  • Assignee: SRR PATENT HOLDINGS, LLC
  • Correspondent: ROTHSCHILD, LEIGH M., 102 E. WATER STREET, SUITE E, LANSING, IL 60438. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer between entities associated with the inventor.

• 2016-05-19 (executed) / recorded YYYY-MM-DD (date not available from source) — Reel 037593/0448

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: SRR PATENT HOLDINGS, LLC
  • Assignee: DIGITAL VERIFICATION SYSTEMS, LLC
  • Correspondent: ROTHSCHILD, LEIGH M., 102 E. WATER STREET, SUITE E, LANSING, IL 60438. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer between entities associated with the inventor, to the current assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9054860
    2008 : Filed by Leigh M. Rothschild
    2009 : Assigned to LMR INVENTIONS LLC
    2011 : Assigned to SRR PATENT HOLDINGS LLC
    2015 : Issued to SRR Patent Holdings LLC
    2016 : Assigned to DIGITAL VERIFICATION SYSTEMS LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

   • LMR INVENTIONS, LLC: The transfer from Leigh M. Rothschild to LMR INVENTIONS, LLC (Reel 023133/0088) is consistent with an inventor setting up a special-purpose entity.
   • SRR PATENT HOLDINGS, LLC: The transfer to SRR PATENT HOLDINGS, LLC (Reel 026779/0815) also suggests a shell entity, particularly given the discrepancy between its patent holdings and general contracting business, and the inventor's history of creating shell companies.
   • DIGITAL VERIFICATION SYSTEMS, LLC: Digital Verification Systems, LLC (DVS) is explicitly identified as an NPE managed by Leigh M. Rothschild, having sued over 50 companies for alleged infringement of this patent. This entity fits the pattern of a licensing-only LLC with no products.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.

   • DIGITAL VERIFICATION SYSTEMS, LLC: Digital Verification Systems, LLC (DVS) is documented as an NPE (Non-Practicing Entity) and has been identified by RPX as an entity that files multiple lawsuits asserting patents related to digital verification. Leigh M. Rothschild is also widely known for his involvement with numerous shell companies that assert patents.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

   • Correspondent: Leigh M. Rothschild, 102 E. WATER STREET, SUITE E, LANSING, IL 60438.
   • Leigh M. Rothschild is listed as the correspondent on all three recorded assignments (Reel 023133/0088, Reel 026779/0815, Reel 037593/0448). This is a strong indicator of a single individual managing the patent's ownership chain, consistent with NPE patterns.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present.

   • The transfers occur over several years (2009, 2011, 2016), not within a short timeframe of less than 24 months consecutively.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear.

   • The patent was assigned to Digital Verification Systems, LLC on May 19, 2016 (Reel 037593/0448). The earliest litigation records provided are from 2016, with case numbers such as 2:16-cv-00495, 2:16-cv-00496, 2:16-cv-00497, 2:16-cv-00499, 2:16-cv-01006, 2:16-cv-01007, and 2:16-cv-01008 in the Texas Eastern District Court. Without specific filing dates for these lawsuits, it is difficult to definitively state if the transfer occurred within 6 months before the first suit, though the proximity in the same year is suggestive.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.

   • No information suggests that any of the assignors or assignees in the chain underwent bankruptcy proceedings that resulted in the sale of this patent.

7. Privateering — Not present.

   • There is no indication of an operating company transferring the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf against competitors. The transfers appear to originate from the inventor himself or his associated entities.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present.

   • The chain does not end at a known defensive aggregator; instead, it ends with an entity identified as an NPE.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The high confidence verdict is based on several strong signals: Digital Verification Systems, LLC (the current assignee) is identified as a known NPE, managed by Leigh M. Rothschild, who is known for prolific patent assertion through numerous shell companies. The repeated appearance of Leigh M. Rothschild as the correspondent across all assignments (Reels 023133/0088, 026779/0815, 037593/0448) further reinforces the pattern of centralized management typical of NPE operations. The original assignee, SRR Patent Holdings LLC, also shows no evidence of producing products embodying the claims, consistent with a shell entity.

To verify the assignment records, you can search for US9054860 at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/.