Assignment history

Inventors

• Sang Wan KIM (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)
• Joon Kyung LEE (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)
• Dong Won KANG (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)
• Wang Bong Lee (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)
• Sang Kil Park (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)
• SangSik Yoon (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)
• Jong Dae Park (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute)

All inventors were employed by the original assignee, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), at the time of filing.

Original assignee

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) is a non-profit, government-funded research institute based in Daejeon, South Korea. ETRI primarily focuses on research and development in information and communication technologies (ICT), including areas like artificial intelligence, 5G, and digital convergence. They have a history of commercializing their research, such as CDMA technology. ETRI operates as a technology incubator and licensor, fostering spin-offs and industry partnerships to commercialize its research breakthroughs. ETRI is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2012-10-04 (executed) / recorded 2012-10-04 — Reel 029079/0176
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: PARK, JONG DAE; PARK, SANG KIL; YOON, SANGSIK; KANG, DONG WON; KIM, SANG WAN; LEE, JOON KYUNG; LEE, WANG BONG (all individual inventors)
  • Assignee: ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
  • Correspondent: Not specified in available records for this initial assignment.
  • Context: Internal transfer from individual inventors to their employer, the original assignee, at the time of patent application filing. This is a standard practice where inventors assign their rights to the entity for which they developed the invention.

The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) shows no other recorded assignments for US 9313101 after this initial assignment from the inventors to ETRI.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9313101
    2012 : Filed by ETRI inventors
         : Assigned to ETRI
    2016 : Issued
    2025 : First infringement suit filed by Optimnet LLC
    2026 : IPR filed against patent by Cisco

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Optimnet LLC, the current asserter, is typically associated with patent assertion, there is no recorded assignment of this patent to Optimnet LLC in the USPTO Assignment Center. Therefore, the transfer itself is not documented.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Optimnet LLC is the current plaintiff in district court litigation and the patent owner in the IPR proceeding. Optimnet LLC is known as a high-frequency plaintiff and patent assertion entity.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Only one assignment from the inventors to ETRI is recorded, and the correspondent for that specific transaction is not specified in the available records.

4. Cascading transfers — not present. No assignments are recorded beyond the initial inventor-to-assignee transfer.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. Although litigation by Optimnet LLC was filed in September 2025, no assignment to Optimnet LLC is recorded in the USPTO Assignment Center. Without a recorded transfer, it is impossible to determine if a pre-litigation transfer occurred for this specific patent.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication that Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute has filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — unclear. While Optimnet LLC is asserting the patent, there is no public record or SEC filing indicating a specific privateering arrangement with the original assignee or another operating company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently being asserted by Optimnet LLC.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The primary signal supporting this verdict is that the current patent owner and plaintiff, Optimnet LLC, is a known patent assertion entity. This is confirmed by the ongoing district court litigation (Case 2:25-cv-00935) and the Inter Partes Review (IPR2026-00321) where Optimnet LLC is identified as the Patent Owner. The lack of recorded assignments to Optimnet LLC in the USPTO Assignment Center suggests that the transfer might have occurred through means not typically recorded in the public assignment database for this specific patent, or is part of a larger portfolio transfer. However, Optimnet LLC's established pattern as a patent asserter strongly indicates an NPE role.

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