Assignment history

Inventors

• Michael Halverson: Employer at filing determinable as RICHARD E KNECHT A PROFESSIONAL Corp (the original assignee).
• Richard E. Knecht: Employer at filing determinable as RICHARD E KNECHT A PROFESSIONAL Corp (the original assignee).

Unusual pattern: The original assignee, RICHARD E KNECHT A PROFESSIONAL Corp, appears to be a professional corporation, possibly related to inventor Richard E. Knecht. The subsequent NUNC PRO TUNC assignment in 2015 (recorded 2015-07-02, Reel 034870/0612) from this entity to the individual inventor Michael P. Halverson, and a later assignment to Richard E. Knecht (recorded 2016-07-21, Reel 038032/0812) from the professional corporation, suggest that the patent rights were initially held by or routed through this professional entity before being distributed, then ultimately consolidated under Ricmic LLC. This is not a typical "departure from operating company" pattern, but rather an intra-inventor/inventor-entity structuring.

Original Assignee

RICHARD E KNECHT A PROFESSIONAL Corp was the original assignee named on the application and issued patent. This entity appears to be a professional corporation, likely a legal or consulting firm associated with the inventor Richard E. Knecht. It is highly unlikely to have shipped a product embodying the claims, as professional corporations typically provide services. Its current status as an operating, acquired, dissolved, or bankrupt entity is not determinable from the patent record alone, but its interest in the patent has been subsequently assigned.

Assignment Timeline

• 2012-09-12 (executed) / recorded 2015-07-02 — Reel 034870/0612

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT (NUNC PRO TUNC)
  • Assignor: KNECHT, RICHARD E. A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
  • Assignee: HALVERSON, MICHAEL P.
  • Correspondent: KNECHT, RICHARD E. A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION, 19200 VON KARMAN AVENUE, SUITE 400, IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92612. This correspondent is the original assignee entity.
  • Context: Transfer of interest from the professional corporation to one of the individual inventors.

• 2016-07-21 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-21 — Reel 038032/0812

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: KNECHT, RICHARD E. A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
  • Assignee: KNECHT, RICHARD E.
  • Correspondent: RICHARD E KNECHT APC, 19200 VON KARMAN AVENUE, SUITE 400, IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92612. This correspondent is the original assignee entity.
  • Context: Transfer of interest from the professional corporation to the other individual inventor.

• 2018-01-22 (executed) / recorded 2018-02-16 — Reel 044952/0864

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: KNECHT, RICHARD E.; HALVERSON, MICHAEL
  • Assignee: MAZURA LAW FIRM
  • Correspondent: MAZURA LAW FIRM, 1313 E. BROADWAY, SUITE 165, COLUMBIA, MO 65201. This correspondent reappears later in the chain.
  • Context: Transfer of inventors' interests to a law firm, which is an unusual interim step.

• 2018-07-06 (executed) / recorded 2018-07-06 — Reel 045437/0835

  • Conveyance: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: HALVERSON, MICHAEL; KNECHT, RICHARD E.; KNECHT, RICHARD E. A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: KNECHT, RICHARD E., 19200 VON KARMAN AVENUE, SUITE 400, IRVINE, CA 92612. This correspondent is an inventor and was associated with the original assignee entity.
  • Context: Corrective transfer of interests from the inventors and original professional corporation to Ricmic LLC, explicitly correcting a prior record (Reel 044952/0864).

• 2024-05-08 (executed) / recorded 2024-05-08 — Reel 057283/0200

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: HALVERSON, MICHAEL P., MR.; KNECHT, RICHARD E.; RICHARD E. KNECHT A PROF. CORP.
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: MAZURA LAW FIRM, 1313 E. BROADWAY, SUITE 165, COLUMBIA, MO 65201. This correspondent reappears in this chain.
  • Context: Further assignment of interests from the inventors and original professional corporation to Ricmic LLC.

• 2024-05-08 (executed) / recorded 2024-05-08 — Reel 057283/0202

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: RICMIC LLC
  • Assignee: RICMIC LLC
  • Correspondent: MAZURA LAW FIRM, 1313 E. BROADWAY, SUITE 165, COLUMBIA, MO 65201. This correspondent reappears in this chain.
  • Context: Internal transfer or clarification by Ricmic LLC to itself.

Timeline Diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9305450B2
    2012 : Filed by R.E. Knecht Prof Corp
    2015 : Issued
    2015 : Assigned to Halverson M.P.
    2016 : Assigned to Knecht R.E.
    2018 : Assigned to Mazura Law Firm
         : Corrective Assignment to Ricmic LLC
    2024 : Assigned to Ricmic LLC
         : Ricmic LLC to Ricmic LLC

NPE / Troll-Pattern Signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The corrective assignment (2018-07-06, Reel 045437/0835) established Ricmic LLC as the assignee. No readily available information suggests Ricmic LLC manufactures or ships products embodying life safety communication systems, and litigation records indicate it asserts patents. The name "Ricmic LLC" itself does not clearly indicate an operating company in this field.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Ricmic LLC is identified as the current assignee in the litigation summary (US case filed in Florida Middle District Court litigation, 6:24-cv-00893, and other cases). The patent has multiple active district court litigations.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.
   • KNECHT, RICHARD E. A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION / RICHARD E KNECHT APC (or similar variations with the same address) appears as correspondent on assignments recorded 2015-07-02 (Reel 034870/0612), 2016-07-21 (Reel 038032/0812), and 2018-07-06 (Reel 045437/0835, where Richard E. Knecht is the correspondent).
   • MAZURA LAW FIRM (1313 E. BROADWAY, SUITE 165, COLUMBIA, MO 65201) appears as correspondent on assignments recorded 2018-02-16 (Reel 044952/0864), 2024-05-08 (Reel 057283/0200), and 2024-05-08 (Reel 057283/0202). The recurrence of Mazura Law Firm as the correspondent, especially after the initial transfer to Ricmic LLC, is a strong indicator.
4. Cascading transfers — Present. There were multiple transfers in close succession:
   • 2018-01-22 (executed) to Mazura Law Firm (recorded 2018-02-16, Reel 044952/0864).
   • 2018-07-06 (executed) to Ricmic LLC (recorded 2018-07-06, Reel 045437/0835), explicitly correcting the previous one. This represents a rapid and complex series of transfers in under 6 months.
   • Additionally, the 2024-05-08 transfers (Reel 057283/0200 and 057283/0202) involve multiple assignors and an internal transfer, handled by the same correspondent (Mazura Law Firm), suggesting continued active management of the patent rights.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The earliest listed litigation is 6:24-cv-00893 in Florida Middle District Court, filed in 2024. The latest assignment to Ricmic LLC from the inventors/professional corp was recorded on 2018-07-06 (Reel 045437/0835). While there was an assignment on 2024-05-08 to Ricmic LLC (Reel 057283/0200), and another internal one by Ricmic LLC to itself on the same day (Reel 057283/0202), it is not definitively within 6 months before the first infringement suit naming this patent given the general 2024 filing year for the Florida case. If the case was filed in late 2024, it might align, but we lack the precise filing date for the "first" suit.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the assignment records or Google Patents that any assignor was in bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While the initial assignor was a professional corporation associated with an inventor, and the patent is now with an NPE (Ricmic LLC), there is no explicit evidence (e.g., SEC filings, press reports) to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to Ricmic LLC for assertion on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with Ricmic LLC, which is identified as an asserter, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on several strong signals: the current assignee, Ricmic LLC, is involved in multiple active litigations as identified in the litigation summary; the pattern of transfers involves an unusual interim assignment to a law firm (Reel 044952/0864) followed by a corrective assignment to Ricmic LLC (Reel 045437/0835); and the repeated appearance of MAZURA LAW FIRM as correspondent across multiple recent assignments (Reel 044952/0864, 057283/0200, 057283/0202) suggests a consistent legal strategy associated with the patent holder. No evidence indicates Ricmic LLC is an operating company producing products related to the patent.

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