Assignment history

Inventors

• Richard Ian Olsen (Employer at time of filing: Unknown)
• Darryl L. Sato (Employer at time of filing: Unknown)
• Feng-Qing Sun (Employer at time of filing: Unknown)
• James Gates (Employer at time of filing: Unknown)

No information is available regarding the inventors' employers at the time of filing within the provided patent text.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent is Callahan Cellular LLC.

Based on publicly available information and the nature of "LLC" entities often used in patent assertion, it is unclear whether Callahan Cellular LLC shipped a product embodying the claims. Their primary line of business appears to be patent holding and licensing.

Callahan Cellular LLC's current status is unclear from the provided patent text, however, the patent was subsequently assigned to Intellectual Ventures II LLC.

Assignment timeline

• 2015-10-02 (executed) / recorded 2015-10-02 — Reel 036087/0989
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Protarius Filo AG, L.L.C.
  • Assignee: Callahan Cellular L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Scott W. Johnson, The Johnson Law Firm, P.C., 20333 State Highway 249, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77070.
  • Context: Internal reorganization, transfer between related entities.
• 2020-08-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-08-17 — Reel 051062/0644
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Newport Imaging Corporation
  • Assignee: Protarius Filo AG, L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: Scott W. Johnson, The Johnson Law Firm, P.C., 20333 State Highway 249, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77070. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter from operating company to a licensing entity.
• 2021-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2021-10-25 — Reel 055556/0890
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Callahan Cellular L.L.C.
  • Assignee: Intellectual Ventures II LLC
  • Correspondent: Intellectual Ventures, PO Box 34011, Seattle, WA 98124-1011.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter from a licensing entity to a known patent aggregator/asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9232158
    2013 : Filed by Callahan Cellular LLC
    2015 : Issued
         : Assigned to Callahan Cellular LLC
    2020 : Assigned to Protarius Filo AG LLC
    2021 : Assigned to Intellectual Ventures II LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present.

   • 2020-08-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-08-17 (Reel 051062/0644): Newport Imaging Corporation (likely an operating company) assigned the patent to Protarius Filo AG, L.L.C. The suffix "AG" and "L.L.C." for Protarius Filo AG, L.L.C. suggests a shell entity, especially given the subsequent transfer to a known NPE.
   • 2021-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2021-10-25 (Reel 055556/0890): Callahan Cellular L.L.C. assigned the patent to Intellectual Ventures II LLC. Callahan Cellular L.L.C. also has the "L.L.C." suffix and appears to be a licensing entity, given its role as the original assignee and its transfer of the patent to a well-known NPE.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present.

   • 2021-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2021-10-25 (Reel 055556/0890): Intellectual Ventures II LLC is the current assignee, which is a widely recognized patent aggregator and asserter (NPE).

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present.

   • Scott W. Johnson, The Johnson Law Firm, P.C., appears as the correspondent on both the 2015-10-02 (Reel 036087/0989) and 2020-08-12 (Reel 051062/0644) assignments, indicating a recurring legal counsel for entities in this chain.

4. Cascading transfers — present.

   • Two transfers occurred within approximately 14 months: from Newport Imaging Corporation to Protarius Filo AG, L.L.C. (executed 2020-08-12) and then from Callahan Cellular L.L.C. to Intellectual Ventures II LLC (executed 2021-10-14). While not strictly chained LLCs from the initial operating company (there was a prior transfer to Callahan Cellular), the rapid movement to known NPEs suggests a pattern of preparing for assertion.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear.

   • While the patent family has litigation, the specific dates of the first infringement suit naming this patent are not provided in the context to directly compare against the assignment dates.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present.

   • No information in the provided context suggests that any assignor in the chain underwent bankruptcy proceedings leading to the sale of this patent.

7. Privateering — unclear.

   • No explicit information in the provided context indicates that an operating company transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf against competitors.

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

   • The chain ends with Intellectual Ventures II LLC, a known NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals. Intellectual Ventures II LLC, a known patent aggregator and asserter, is the current assignee per the assignment recorded on 2021-10-25 (Reel 055556/0890). Furthermore, a repeat correspondent (Scott W. Johnson) handled transfers for different entities in the chain, suggesting a coordinated strategy, and there is evidence of cascading transfers to shell-like entities.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/