Assignment history

Inventors

• Aaron Emigh
• James Roskind

The patent text does not specify their employers at the time of filing (priority date of September 27, 2004). The application for this specific patent was not filed until July 9, 2016, by Radix Holdings LLC, many years after the priority date. The inventors are known entrepreneurs in the security and internet technology space.

Original assignee

Radix Holdings LLC. This entity appears to be a holding company for intellectual property. There is no public evidence that Radix Holdings LLC shipped a commercial product embodying the claims of this patent. The patent is a continuation of an earlier application from 2005, which itself claimed priority to a 2004 provisional application. The long delay between the priority date and the filing of this specific patent by a holding company is a common pattern for patents intended for licensing or assertion rather than product protection.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for US Patent 9,516,048 reveals the following ownership chain:

• 2017-04-26 (executed) / recorded 2017-05-09 — Reel 041178/0268

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Radix Holdings, LLC
  • Assignee: Spectrum Patents, Inc.
  • Correspondent: John M. Fonder, Fonder, P.A., 2432 25th Ave S, St. Cloud, MN 56301
  • Context: Transfer from the original holding company to another entity, likely for monetization.

• 2017-05-02 (executed) / recorded 2017-05-23 — Reel 041280/0173

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: A group of 8 LLCs including "SPECTRUM PATENTS, INC." (assignor name listed differently across documents)
  • Assignee: DLI Lending Agent, LLC
  • Correspondent: Robert A. Green, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, 333 S. Hope Street, 43rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071
  • Context: The patent portfolio, now held by Spectrum Patents, was securitized as collateral for a loan.

• 2017-10-11 (executed) / recorded 2017-10-13 — Reel 042456/0582

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Spectrum Patents, Inc.
  • Assignee: Network Security Technologies, LLC
  • Correspondent: John M. Fonder, Fonder, P.A., 2432 25th Ave S, St. Cloud, MN 56301. This is the same correspondent who handled the Radix-to-Spectrum transfer.
  • Context: Transfer to a new LLC for assertion. Network Security Technologies, LLC has filed multiple infringement lawsuits.

• 2019-12-31 (executed) / recorded 2020-01-13 — Reel 049594/0827

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Network Security Technologies, LLC
  • Assignee: K. Mizra LLC
  • Correspondent: John M. Fonder, Fonder, P.A., 2432 25th Ave S, St. Cloud, MN 56301. This is the same correspondent from the prior two assignment recordings.
  • Context: Transfer to the current assignee, another assertion entity. K. Mizra LLC has continued to assert this patent in litigation.

• 2020-02-10 (executed) / recorded 2020-02-11 — Reel 049964/0001

  • Conveyance: Release by Secured Party
  • Assignor: DLI Lending Agent, LLC
  • Assignee: The group of 8 LLCs from the security agreement, including "Cryptopeak Solutions, LLC" (the new name for Spectrum Patents, Inc.)
  • Correspondent: Robert A. Green, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, 333 S. Hope Street, 43rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071
  • Context: The security interest from May 2017 was released, clearing title for the portfolio now held by K. Mizra LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9516048
    2004 : Priority Date
    2016 : Issued to Radix Holdings LLC
    2017 : Assigned to Spectrum Patents Inc
         : Securitized by DLI Lending Agent
         : Assigned to Network Security Tech
    2020 : Assigned to K Mizra LLC
         : DLI security interest released
    2021 : Litigation filed by K Mizra LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: present. The patent was moved from its original assignee (Radix Holdings LLC) through a series of LLCs with names characteristic of non-practicing entities ("Spectrum Patents", "Network Security Technologies, LLC", "K. Mizra LLC"). None of these entities appear to have commercial products. The current assignee, K. Mizra LLC, is documented as an assertion entity. This is evidenced by the assignments on reels 041178/0268, 042456/0582, and 049594/0827.

2. Known asserter in the chain: present. The current assignee, K. Mizra LLC, is listed as a plaintiff in multiple patent infringement cases involving this patent. For example, litigation was filed in the Eastern District of Texas (2:21-cv-00305) and Delaware District Court (1:25-cv-00047), as noted in the provided patent data. Unified Patents also identifies K. Mizra LLC as a frequent asserter.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: present. Attorney John M. Fonder of Fonder, P.A. acted as the correspondent for three consecutive transfers in the main chain of title: Radix to Spectrum (041178/0268), Spectrum to Network Security Technologies (042456/0582), and Network Security Technologies to K. Mizra LLC (049594/0827). This recurrence strongly suggests the transfers were orchestrated by a single controlling party managing a portfolio for assertion.

4. Cascading transfers: present. The patent was transferred three times between April 2017 and December 2019. The assignees share the same correspondent (John M. Fonder), indicating a coordinated series of transfers between related shell entities.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: present. While the first assignment to an assertion-oriented entity (Network Security Technologies, LLC) occurred in October 2017, the most recent transfer to the current plaintiff, K. Mizra LLC, was executed on December 31, 2019, and recorded in January 2020. Major litigation campaigns by K. Mizra LLC began in 2021, well within a reasonable timeframe to be considered a transfer for the purpose of litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: not present. There is no evidence that any transfer was the result of a bankruptcy proceeding.

7. Privateering: not present. There is no evidence to suggest this patent is being asserted on behalf of an operating company against its competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): not present. The chain of title does not include any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict is driven by the presence of at least five strong signals. The patent was transferred through a cascade of shell LLCs (Reels 041178/0268, 042456/0582, 049594/0827), all sharing the same correspondent attorney, John M. Fonder. The current assignee, K. Mizra LLC, is a known patent asserter with multiple infringement lawsuits involving this patent, confirming its use for litigation rather than product protection.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Search for US Patent 9,516,048: https://assignment.uspto.gov/patent/index.html#/patent/search/result?patentNumber=9516048