Patent 9542571

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (4)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2015-05-19 · reel 035540/0177 · Assignment

    RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITEDRESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED

    Correspondent: Nathan R. Rogers

    internal reorg

  2. 2016-02-18 · reel 037149/0178 · Change of Name

    RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITEDBLACKBERRY LIMITED

    Correspondent: Nathan R. Rogers

    change of name only

  3. 2023-06-16 · reel 060877/0056 · Assignment

    BLACKBERRY LIMITEDMALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED

    Correspondent: William S. Samples

    transfer-to-asserter

  4. 2023-06-19 · reel 060877/0059 · Assignment

    BLACKBERRY LIMITEDMALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED

    Correspondent: William S. Samples

    Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Neil P. Adams (BlackBerry Ltd)
  • Michael G. Kirkup (BlackBerry Ltd)
  • Herbert A. Little (BlackBerry Ltd)
  • Russell N. Owen (BlackBerry Ltd)

No unusual patterns observed, as all inventors appear to have been employed by the original assignee at the time of filing.

Original assignee

BlackBerry Ltd. (originally Research In Motion Limited). BlackBerry Ltd. is a Canadian multinational company known for its enterprise software and services, particularly in the area of cybersecurity and mobile device management. They formerly produced smartphones. BlackBerry Ltd. is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

  • 2015-05-19 (executed) / recorded 2015-05-19 — Reel 035540/0177
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
    • Assignee: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
    • Correspondent: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED, C/O NATHAN R. ROGERS, 295 PHILLIP STREET, WATERLOO, ONTARIO N2L 3W8, CANADA
    • Context: Internal reorg (assignors' interest assigned to the company).
  • 2016-02-18 (executed) / recorded 2016-02-18 — Reel 037149/0178
    • Conveyance: Change of Name
    • Assignor: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
    • Assignee: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    • Correspondent: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED, C/O NATHAN R. ROGERS, 295 PHILLIP STREET, WATERLOO, ONTARIO N2L 3W8, CANADA (This correspondent recurred in the prior record in this chain)
    • Context: Change of name only
  • 2023-06-16 (executed) / recorded 2023-06-16 — Reel 060877/0056
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    • Assignee: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
    • Correspondent: WILLIAM S. SAMPLES, (MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED), 1100 PEACHTREE STREET, SUITE 2800, ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30309, UNITED STATES
    • Context: Transfer to asserter (as indicated by public records).
  • 2023-06-19 (executed) / recorded 2023-06-19 — Reel 060877/0059
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    • Assignee: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
    • Correspondent: WILLIAM S. SAMPLES, (MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED), 1100 PEACHTREE STREET, SUITE 2800, ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30309, UNITED STATES (This correspondent recurred in the prior record in this chain)
    • Context: Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment (corrective or confirmatory assignment, likely related to the previous transfer to Malikie Innovations Limited).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9542571
    2002 : Priority Date
    2015 : Application filed by BlackBerry Ltd
         : Assigned within RIM
    2016 : Name changed to BlackBerry Ltd
    2017 : Patent Granted
    2023 : Assigned to Malikie Innovations Ltd
         : Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment to Malikie
    2026 : IPR case filed (Settlement)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The assignment from BlackBerry Limited to Malikie Innovations Limited suggests a shell-entity transfer. Malikie Innovations Limited does not appear to have products in commerce, and its name with "Innovations" could indicate a licensing-focused entity. Public records show Malikie Innovations Limited as a known NPE.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Malikie Innovations Ltd. is listed as the current assignee. Unified Patents lists Malikie Innovations Limited as an NPE, noting its formation in 2023 and the acquisition of patents from BlackBerry.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. William S. Samples of 1100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2800, Atlanta, Georgia 30309, United States, appears as the correspondent for both the 2023-06-16 and 2023-06-19 assignments to Malikie Innovations Limited (Reel 060877/0056, Reel 060877/0059).
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are two assignments to the same entity, Malikie Innovations Limited, within a short period in 2023 (Reel 060877/0056, Reel 060877/0059). However, the second appears to be a "Nunc Pro Tunc" assignment, often a corrective or confirmatory document, rather than a transfer to a chained LLC.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to Malikie Innovations Limited in June 2023, and litigation for US9542571B2 was filed in the Washington Western District Court in 2024. This falls within the 6-month window often indicative of a pre-litigation transfer if the exact filing date of the litigation is near the start of the 2024 year.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. BlackBerry Ltd. is still an operating company.
  7. Privateering — unclear. While BlackBerry has transferred patents to an NPE (Malikie Innovations Limited), without SEC filings or specific reporting, it's unclear if this transfer is part of a privateering arrangement where Malikie asserts on BlackBerry's behalf against competitors.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain terminates with Malikie Innovations Limited, which is identified as an NPE.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
This verdict is supported by several strong signals. The transfer to Malikie Innovations Limited, a known NPE, combined with the timing of the assignment preceding litigation, and the recurrence of the same correspondent attorney for both assignments to Malikie Innovations Limited (William S. Samples, Reel 060877/0056, Reel 060877/0059), strongly indicates an NPE assertion pattern.

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

Generated 5/25/2026, 12:46:27 PM