Patent 9232403

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 (2)

Asserters network →

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

  1. 2015-03-24 · reel 035251/0173 · ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST

    RALEIGH, GREGORY G.HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC

    Correspondent: GREGORY G. RALEIGH

    initial assignment

  2. 2017-01-04 · reel 039019/0754 · MERGER AND CHANGE OF NAME

    Headwater Partners I LLC; Headwater Management LLCHEADWATER RESEARCH LLC

    Correspondent: DONALD R. BUCKLEY

    internal reorg

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

  • Gregory G. Raleigh. Employer at the time of filing: Headwater Partners I LLC, as the patent was assigned to this entity by the inventor on the filing date.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Headwater Partners I LLC. There is no public information suggesting that Headwater Partners I LLC or its successor, Headwater Research LLC, shipped a product embodying the claims of US9232403. Their primary line of business appears to be patent holding and licensing. Headwater Partners I LLC's current status is that it merged into and changed its name to Headwater Research LLC.

Assignment timeline

  • 2015-03-24 (executed) / recorded 2015-03-24 — Reel 035251/0173

    • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
    • Assignor: RALEIGH, GREGORY G.
    • Assignee: HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
    • Correspondent: GREGORY G. RALEIGH, 1820 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CA 94303.
    • Context: Initial assignment from inventor to an IP holding entity.

  • 2017-01-04 (executed) / recorded 2017-01-04 — Reel 039019/0754

    • Conveyance: MERGER AND CHANGE OF NAME
    • Assignor: HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC, HEADWATER MANAGEMENT LLC
    • Assignee: HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC
    • Correspondent: DONALD R. BUCKLEY, ESQ., HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC, 1820 EMBARCADERO ROAD, SUITE 200, PALO ALTO, CA 94303. This correspondent is associated with the known NPE, Headwater Research LLC.
    • Context: Internal reorganization and change of name from Headwater Partners I LLC to Headwater Research LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9232403
    2009 : Priority date
    2015 : Filed and assigned to Headwater Partners I LLC
    2016 : Issued
    2017 : Merged to Headwater Research LLC
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The initial assignment from the inventor Gregory G. Raleigh to "Headwater Partners I LLC" on 2015-03-24 (Reel 035251/0173) and the subsequent merger/name change to "Headwater Research LLC" on 2017-01-04 (Reel 039019/0754) strongly suggest shell entities focused on IP holding rather than product development. Headwater Research LLC is widely recognized as an NPE.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, Headwater Research LLC, is listed by Unified Patents as a known Non-Practicing Entity (NPE).
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. While the specific attorney changed from the inventor himself to Donald R. Buckley, the correspondent's address (1820 Embarcadero Road, Suite 200, Palo Alto, CA 94303) remained consistent across the initial assignment to Headwater Partners I LLC (Reel 035251/0173) and the merger/name change to Headwater Research LLC (Reel 039019/0754). Donald R. Buckley, listed as Chief Legal Officer for Headwater Research LLC, consistently represents this NPE family.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There are only two recorded transfers, separated by more than 24 months.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The last assignment was recorded on 2017-01-04, while the earliest identified litigation for this patent is in 2025, well outside the 6-month window.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. No evidence suggests a bankruptcy-related transfer for either Headwater Partners I LLC or Headwater Research LLC.
  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.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with Headwater Research LLC, which is an NPE, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The patent was transferred from the inventor to Headwater Partners I LLC, then underwent a merger/name change to Headwater Research LLC (Reel 039019/0754), an entity widely recognized as a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE). This conclusion is supported by the shell-entity naming conventions, the identification of Headwater Research LLC as a known asserter by Unified Patents, and the consistent correspondent address associated with the Headwater entities.

Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/28/2026, 12:48:58 PM