Assignment history

Inventors

• Sanjiv Sirpal: Employer not determinable from the patent document.
• Mohammed Selim: Employer not determinable from the patent document.
• Saulo Correia Dourado: Employer not determinable from the patent document.
• Alexander de Paz: Employer not determinable from the patent document.

There is no information within the patent document itself to determine the inventors' employers at the time of filing. The provided information does not indicate any unusual patterns like all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent was Flextronics AP LLC.
Flextronics International Ltd. (the parent company of Flextronics AP LLC) is a global manufacturing company that designs and builds intelligent products for various industries. While it's a large operating company, it is unclear from the provided information whether Flextronics AP LLC specifically shipped a product embodying the claims of US9247174, as its primary business is contract manufacturing for other brands. Flextronics International Ltd. is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2014-02-10 (executed) / recorded 2014-02-10 — Reel 031448/0001

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Mohammed Selim, Alexander de Paz, Saulo Correia Dourado, Sanjiv Sirpal
  • Assignee: FLEXTRONICS AP, LLC
  • Correspondent: Matthew L. Godinho, WONG, CABELLO, LUTSCH, RUTHERFORD & BRUCCULERI, L.L.P., 20333 SH 249, SUITE 600, HOUSTON, TX, 77070.
  • Context: Internal reorg (transfer from inventors to assignee).

• 2023-01-18 (executed) / recorded 2023-01-19 — Reel 062758/0092

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: FLEXTRONICS AP, LLC
  • Assignee: MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES PTE, LTD
  • Correspondent: Joshua K. Budoff, 401 WEST A STREET, SUITE 2600, SAN DIEGO, CA, 92101.
  • Context: Transfer to asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9247174
    2013 : Filed by Flextronics AP LLC
    2014 : Assigned from inventors to Flextronics AP LLC
    2016 : Issued to Flextronics AP LLC
    2023 : Assigned to Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The transfer from Flextronics AP LLC to MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES PTE, LTD (Reel 062758/0092, executed 2023-01-18 / recorded 2023-01-19) appears to be a shell-entity transfer. Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd. is listed as the plaintiff in patent infringement lawsuits but there is no public information to suggest it is an operating company that produces products embodying the claims. The legal entity "Pte Ltd" in Singapore is often used for private limited companies, which can include non-practicing entities.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd is a known asserter, as evidenced by the ongoing litigation against LG Electronics Inc. et al. (Case Number: 2:22-cv-00494) and VIZIO, Inc. (Case Number: 2:23-cv-00124), as well as the IPR proceedings initiated by these companies.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. While Matthew L. Godinho of WONG, CABELLO, LUTSCH, RUTHERFORD & BRUCCULERI, L.L.P. handled the inventor-to-assignee transfer, and Joshua K. Budoff handled the transfer to Multimedia Technologies Pte, Ltd., there isn't enough information in the provided context to determine if either of these correspondents are repeat players across multiple NPE chains tracked by this site, or if Joshua K. Budoff's name has appeared on public NPE assertion lists.

4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two assignments recorded for this patent after its initial filing, and they are spaced years apart (2014 and 2023).

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to Multimedia Technologies Pte, Ltd. was executed on 2023-01-18 and recorded on 2023-01-19 (Reel 062758/0092). The first infringement suit mentioned in the summary against LG Electronics Inc. et al. was filed on December 23, 2022 (Case Number: 2:22-cv-00494). The assignment date (January 2023) is within six months after the initial filing of the LG lawsuit, suggesting the transfer was arranged around the time of assertion. The Vizio case was filed March 24, 2023, which is also very close to the assignment date.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication that Flextronics AP LLC or Flextronics International Ltd. has filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — unclear. While the original assignee, Flextronics AP LLC, is part of an operating company (Flextronics International Ltd.), there is no explicit information to suggest that Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd. is asserting the patent on their behalf against competitors. This would typically require more detailed insight into the licensing agreements or SEC filings of Flextronics, which are not provided.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current assignee, Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd., is an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of a known asserter (Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd.), a shell-entity transfer from an operating company (Flextronics AP LLC to Multimedia Technologies Pte Ltd. per Reel 062758/0092 on 2023-01-18), and a pre-litigation transfer that closely precedes or coincides with infringement lawsuits strongly indicate that this patent is being asserted by a Non-Practicing Entity.

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