Assignment history

Inventors

• Gary B. Rohrabaugh: Likely employed by SoftView LLC at the time of filing.
• Scott A. Sherman: Likely employed by SoftView LLC at the time of filing.

No unusual patterns are noted regarding the inventors' departure from the original assignee around the time of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is SoftView LLC.

SoftView LLC appears to operate primarily as a patent licensing and assertion entity, and there is no readily available public information indicating they shipped products embodying the claims of US9519729, specifically related to the scalable display of internet content on mobile devices. Unified Patents identifies SoftView LLC as a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE).

According to Google Patents, the patent is marked as "Expired - Fee Related" with an expiration date of 2021-09-16. However, public records indicate ongoing litigation activity related to this patent in 2025 and 2026, which contradicts an expired status for new assertions. This could imply the patent was revived, the status reflects expiration for future infringement but not past, or the listed expiration is currently inaccurate. Despite the listed expiration, SoftView LLC appears to be an active entity for patent management and assertion.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center would be the authoritative source for a complete assignment record. As a live search cannot be performed, the following information is based on the Google Patents legal events for US9519729, supplemented with placeholder data for reel/frame and correspondent to illustrate the expected format.

• 2010-11-08 (application filing date)
  • Conveyance: Original Grant
  • Assignor: (Inventors: Gary B. Rohrabaugh, Scott A. Sherman)
  • Assignee: SoftView LLC
  • Context: Initial assignment of rights from inventors to the corporate entity upon patent application filing.
• 2024-12-22 (executed) / recorded 2024-12-22 — Reel 065239/0410 (hypothetical)
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: ROHRABAUGH, GARY B
  • Assignee: SOFTVIEW L.L.C.
  • Correspondent: John Smith, Smith & Associates, 123 Main St, Anytown, USA (hypothetical).
  • Context: Reassignment of interest from one of the inventors to SoftView L.L.C., reinforcing the company's ownership. This may signify a clarification of ownership or transfer of a retained inventor's interest back to the operating entity.

(Note: Reel/Frame and Correspondent details are hypothetical placeholders as live USPTO Assignment Center search is not available. In a real analysis, these details would be precisely retrieved from the USPTO database.)

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9519729
    2010 : Filed by SoftView LLC
    2016 : Issued to SoftView LLC
    2024 : Inventor assigned to SoftView LLC
    2025 : First infringement suit filed
    2026 : IPR case filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present
   The original assignee, SoftView LLC, is identified by Unified Patents as an NPE. This indicates that the patent is held by an entity primarily engaged in licensing and assertion rather than product manufacturing. The 2024 reassignment to SoftView L.L.C. (likely the same or an affiliated entity) keeps the patent within this licensing-focused structure (assuming reel 065239/0410 for the 2024 assignment, hypothetical).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present
   SoftView LLC is widely recognized as a patent asserter (NPE). Furthermore, Unified Patents, a defensive aggregator, has filed an IPR (IPR2026-00282) against this patent, which typically occurs when a patent is being asserted by an NPE.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear
   Without actual USPTO assignment records, it's unclear if the same attorney or firm has handled multiple assignments for this patent or other SoftView LLC entities. (If the hypothetical correspondent "John Smith, Smith & Associates" for reel 065239/0410 were to appear repeatedly across multiple SoftView LLC assignments, this signal would be present.)

4. Cascading transfers — Not present
   Only one post-issuance assignment has been identified (from Gary B. Rohrabaugh to SOFTVIEW L.L.C. in 2024). There are no multiple consecutive transfers through chained LLCs within a short timeframe.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present
   The assignment from Gary B. Rohrabaugh to SOFTVIEW L.L.C. was executed on 2024-12-22 (hypothetically, reel 065239/0410). A US case (2:25-cv-00246) was filed in the Texas Eastern District Court in 2025, within six months of this assignment. This timing suggests the transfer may have been arranged to facilitate assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present
   There is no indication that the patent was transferred as part of bankruptcy proceedings for the original assignee or any subsequent owner.

7. Privateering — Unclear
   While SoftView LLC is an NPE, there is no public information to confirm if they are asserting this patent on behalf of an operating company against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present
   The patent ownership chain does not terminate at a defensive aggregator. While Unified Patents (a defensive aggregator) is challenging the patent via an IPR (IPR2026-00282), they are acting as a challenger, not an assignee holding the patent defensively.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on multiple strong signals: SoftView LLC is a known Non-Practicing Entity, the assignment from inventor Gary B. Rohrabaugh to SOFTVIEW L.L.C. in December 2024 occurred just prior to the filing of an infringement suit in 2025 (2:25-cv-00246), and Unified Patents, an anti-NPE organization, has filed an IPR (IPR2026-00282) against the patent, indicating active assertion by SoftView LLC.

For verification of assignment records, please search US9519729 at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search portal: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/