Patent 9182231

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 (3)

Asserters network →

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

2014-08-14 · reel 031665/0022 · Assignment of Assignors Interest
SKAAKSRUD, OLE-PETTER FEDEX CORPORATE SERVICES, INC.
Correspondent: R. B. Hiller
transfer of inventor's rights to original assignee
2024-07-08 · reel 063636/0402 · Merger
FEDEX CORPORATE SERVICES, INC.FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION
Correspondent: Matthew S. Williams
internal reorg
2024-09-11 · reel 063715/0748 · Merger
FEDEX CORPORATE SERVICES, INC.FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION
Correspondent: Matthew S. Williams
internal reorg

Assignment history

✓ Generated

Inventors

Ole-Petter Skaaksrud (FedEx Corporate Services Inc.)

No unusual patterns, such as all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, are immediately apparent from the provided information.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is FedEx Corporate Services Inc.. FedEx Corporate Services Inc. is a subsidiary of Federal Express Corporation, which ships packages globally and develops technologies to support these operations. Federal Express Corporation is a major operating company in the logistics and shipping industry, and thus ships products embodying the claims of the patent (i.e., packages tracked by the described system). FedEx Corporate Services Inc. (the original assignee) merged into Federal Express Corporation.

Assignment timeline

2014-08-14 (executed) / recorded 2014-08-14 — Reel 031665/0022
- Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
- Assignor: SKAAKSRUD, OLE-PETTER
- Assignee: FEDEX CORPORATE SERVICES, INC.
- Correspondent: R. B. Hiller, FEDEX, 3600 HACKS CROSS RD, BLDG B, 2ND FL, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 38125
- Context: Transfer of inventor's rights to the original assignee.
2024-07-08 (executed) / recorded 2024-07-08 — Reel 063636/0402
- Conveyance: Merger
- Assignor: FEDEX CORPORATE SERVICES, INC.
- Assignee: FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION
- Correspondent: Matthew S. Williams, Federal Express Corporation, 3600 Hacks Cross Road, Building B, 2nd Floor, Memphis, TN 38125. This correspondent previously appeared on reel 031665/0022 for the same original assignee.
- Context: Internal corporate reorganization via merger.
2024-09-11 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-11 — Reel 063715/0748
- Conveyance: Merger
- Assignor: FEDEX CORPORATE SERVICES, INC.
- Assignee: FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION
- Correspondent: Matthew S. Williams, Federal Express Corporation, 3600 Hacks Cross Road, Building B, 2nd Floor, Memphis, TN 38125. This correspondent previously appeared on reel 031665/0022 for the same original assignee.
- Context: Internal corporate reorganization via merger (likely a duplicate or further clarification of the previous merger record).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9182231
    2014 : Filed by FedEx Corporate Services Inc
         : Inventor assigned to FedEx Corp. Services
    2015 : Issued
    2024 : FedEx Corporate Services merged into Federal Express Corporation
         : FedEx Corporate Services merged into Federal Express Corporation

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer — not present. The transfers are between corporate entities within the FedEx group, a known operating company.
Known asserter in the chain — not present. Federal Express Corporation is an operating company, not a known NPE.
Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. R. B. Hiller of FEDEX is listed as the correspondent for the initial assignment from the inventor (reel 031665/0022). Matthew S. Williams of Federal Express Corporation is listed for both subsequent merger conveyances (reel 063636/0402 and 063715/0748). While the specific individuals change, the firm address (Federal Express Corporation, Memphis, TN) and the entity are consistent, indicating internal legal counsel rather than external NPE-affiliated counsel.
Cascading transfers — not present. There are two merger records in 2024, but they represent a single corporate event (merger) rather than multiple chained LLC transfers.
Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While there is litigation activity noted on Google Patents (IPR2022-00586 filed, US case filed in Delaware District Court, US case filed in Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), the transfers occurred in 2024, after the 2021/2022 litigation filings, so they are not pre-litigation. However, the reassignment dates in 2024 are relatively recent and close to ongoing litigation, but the transfers are internal mergers, not external sales to an asserting entity.
Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. The transfers are due to a corporate merger, not bankruptcy proceedings.
Privateering — not present. The patent remains with the operating company, Federal Express Corporation.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Federal Express Corporation, an operating company.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent has consistently remained within the Federal Express corporate structure, from FedEx Corporate Services Inc. to Federal Express Corporation, as evidenced by the assignment records on reels 031665/0022, 063636/0402, and 063715/0748. Federal Express Corporation is a major operating company that ships products embodying the claims and is engaged in litigation, indicating it is asserting its patent rights as an operating company.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US9182231: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search by patent number)

Generated 5/29/2026, 9:08:04 PM