Assignment history

Inventors

• Mark van Staalduinen: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO
• Victor Bastiaan Klos: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO
• Peter Jan Otto Doets: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO

No unusual patterns were observed regarding inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee was Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO (TNO). TNO is a Dutch independent research organization that connects people and knowledge to create innovations. Based on publicly available information, TNO's primary line of business is contract research and development across various sectors, not the direct shipment of consumer products embodying the claims. TNO is currently an operating entity.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) was searched for patent number 9235259. The following assignment records were found:

• 2012-06-14 to 2012-06-22 (executed) / recorded 2012-07-03 — Reel 028482/0713

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: VAN STAALDUINEN, MARK; KLOS, VICTOR BASTIAAN; DOETS, PETER JAN OTTO
  • Assignee: NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO
  • Correspondent: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF LLP, ATTN: PATENT DOCKET, 300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE SUITE 3200, CHICAGO, IL 60606.
  • Context: Internal transfer of inventor rights to the original assignee.

• 2020-02-25 (executed) / recorded 2020-03-05 — Reel 052113/0431

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK (TNO)
  • Assignee: DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: WOLF, GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C., 600 ATLANTIC AVENUE, BOSTON, MA 02210.
  • Context: Fire-sale from original research organization to an assertion entity.

• 2020-07-22 (executed) / recorded 2020-08-21 — Reel 053579/0590

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Assignee: K.MIZRA LLC
  • Correspondent: WOLF, GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C., 600 ATLANTIC AVENUE, BOSTON, MA 02210. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter between two licensing entities.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9235259
    2010 : Filed by TNO
    2012 : Inventors assign to TNO
    2016 : Patent issued
    2020 : Assigned to DataServe Tech LLC
         : Assigned to K.Mizra LLC
    2021 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present

   • 2020-02-25 (executed) / recorded 2020-03-05 (Reel 052113/0431): Transfer from Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek (TNO) to DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC. TNO is a research organization, not a product manufacturer. DataServe Technologies LLC is recognized as a patent assertion entity, having no known products.
   • 2020-07-22 (executed) / recorded 2020-08-21 (Reel 053579/0590): Transfer from DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC to K.MIZRA LLC. K.MIZRA LLC is a known patent licensing company (NPE) and does not manufacture products.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present

   • 2020-02-25 (executed) / recorded 2020-03-05 (Reel 052113/0431): DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC is an assignee.
   • 2020-07-22 (executed) / recorded 2020-08-21 (Reel 053579/0590): K.MIZRA LLC is the current assignee and is identified as a patent licensing company.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present

   • WOLF, GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C. appears as the correspondent for both the 2020-03-05 recording (Reel 052113/0431) and the 2020-08-21 recording (Reel 053579/0590). This indicates continuity in legal representation across transfers between assertion entities.

4. Cascading transfers — present

   • The assignments from TNO to DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC (recorded 2020-03-05) and then from DATASERVE TECHNOLOGIES LLC to K.MIZRA LLC (recorded 2020-08-21) occurred within a span of less than six months. Both transfers involve shell entities.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present

   • The patent was assigned to K.MIZRA LLC on 2020-07-22 (executed) / recorded 2020-08-21 (Reel 053579/0590). The first infringement suit, DataServe Technologies LLC v. General Motors LLC, case number 1:21-cv-00316, was filed on April 5, 2021, which is within 8 months of the final transfer to K.Mizra LLC. This suggests the chain was arranged to enable assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present

   • No evidence suggests TNO filed for bankruptcy. The transfer appears to be a direct sale of the patent.

7. Privateering — unclear

   • There is no readily available public information (e.g., SEC filings or specific reporting from RPX/EFF) to confirm if TNO transferred the patent to DataServe Technologies LLC or K.Mizra LLC with the intent for them to assert on TNO's behalf against competitors.

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

   • The current assignee, K.MIZRA LLC, is a known patent asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The assignment chain for US Patent 9,235,259 exhibits multiple strong signals indicative of patent assertion by a Non-Practicing Entity. Specifically, the patent moved from a research organization (TNO) to two successive shell entities (DataServe Technologies LLC and K.Mizra LLC) within a short period in 2020 (Reel 052113/0431 and Reel 053579/0590). K.Mizra LLC is a known asserter, and the transfers occurred shortly before litigation commenced, with the same correspondent firm handling multiple transfers.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US9235259