Assignment history

Inventors

• Gregory G. Raleigh: Headwater Research LLC (assumed, based on being a principal inventor and director at Headwater Research LLC, leading its invention team, and the subsequent assignment of inventor interests to Headwater Partners I LLC, which then merged into Headwater Research LLC).
• Alireza Raissinia: Headwater Research LLC (assumed).
• James Lavine: Headwater Research LLC (assumed).

Original Assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Headwater Research LLC. Headwater Research LLC's primary line of business is inventing and developing technological breakthroughs, particularly in mobile device operating systems and cloud technology, and subsequently licensing these technologies to partners and enabling spin-out companies. They describe their work as enabling products rather than shipping end-user products themselves. Headwater Research LLC is a privately held company and is currently operating and actively engaged in patent licensing and assertion.

Assignment timeline

• 2013-11-20 (executed) / recorded 2013-11-25 — Reel 032127/0638

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS).
  • Assignor: LAVINE, JAMES, RAISSINIA, ALIREZA, RALEIGH, GREGORY G.
  • Assignee: HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
  • Correspondent: TROY J. DOZIER, CARR & FERRELL LLP, 120 CONSTITUTION DRIVE, MENLO PARK, CA 94025. This correspondent also appears in a subsequent recording in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to a related holding entity.

• 2017-01-05 (executed) / recorded 2017-01-05 — Reel 038670/0411

  • Conveyance: MERGER AND CHANGE OF NAME
  • Assignor: HEADWATER MANAGEMENT LLC AND HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC
  • Assignee: HEADWATER RESEARCH LLC
  • Correspondent: TROY J. DOZIER, CARR & FERRELL LLP, 120 CONSTITUTION DRIVE, MENLO PARK, CA 94025. This correspondent also appeared in an earlier recording in this chain.
  • Context: Internal reorganization/merger of holding entities into the ultimate asserting entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9609544
    2013 : Inventors assigned to Headwater Partners I LLC
    2017 : Headwater Partners I LLC merged into Headwater Research LLC
    2017 : Patent issued to Headwater Research LLC
    2022 : First infringement suit filed (e.g. Samsung)
    2025 : Multiple infringement suits filed (e.g. Google, Verizon)
    2026 : PTAB case IPR2026-00138 filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was initially assigned from the inventors to "HEADWATER PARTNERS I LLC" (Reel 032127/0638), a name suggesting a holding entity. Subsequently, Headwater Partners I LLC merged into Headwater Research LLC (Reel 038670/0411). Headwater Research LLC's business model is described as focusing on invention, development, and licensing, often enabling spin-outs, rather than direct manufacturing and sales of end-user products. Multiple legal news sources also explicitly identify Headwater Research LLC as an NPE.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Headwater Research LLC is a known patent asserter. Public records and news articles indicate that Headwater Research LLC has filed numerous patent infringement lawsuits against major technology companies such as Samsung, Google, Verizon, Apple, T-Mobile, and AT&T.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. TROY J. DOZIER of CARR & FERRELL LLP is listed as the correspondent for both recorded assignments (Reel 032127/0638 and Reel 038670/0411).
4. Cascading transfers — not present. The recorded assignments involve an initial transfer from inventors to Headwater Partners I LLC in 2013, followed by a merger/change of name into Headwater Research LLC in 2017. The time gap between these events is greater than 24 months, and they represent a corporate restructuring within a related group of entities rather than rapid transfers between distinct, unrelated shell LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The last assignment to Headwater Research LLC was recorded on 2017-01-05 (Reel 038670/0411), and the patent was issued on 2017-03-28. The earliest identified litigation related to Headwater Research LLC (e.g., against Samsung) appears to be from 2022. This gap is significantly longer than six months.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no evidence suggesting Headwater Research LLC or its predecessor entities underwent bankruptcy proceedings. PitchBook indicates Headwater Research is a privately held company that has raised funding.
7. Privateering — unclear. While Headwater Research LLC engages in licensing activities, there is no explicit information provided that indicates this specific patent was transferred from an operating company to Headwater Research LLC to assert on the operating company's behalf against competitors. Headwater Research LLC appears to originate its own patent portfolios through invention.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current owner, Headwater Research LLC, is a patent asserter and not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence
This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: Headwater Research LLC is widely reported as a non-practicing entity (NPE) in legal news, actively engaged in asserting its patents against large technology companies. Its business model focuses on invention and licensing rather than producing end-user products, and the assignment chain includes transfers to entities with names (e.g., "Partners I LLC") that suggest holding or licensing purposes (Reel 032127/0638). Furthermore, the consistent use of the same correspondent, TROY J. DOZIER of CARR & FERRELL LLP, across the assignments (Reel 032127/0638, Reel 038670/0411) is a common pattern observed with NPEs who use a dedicated legal firm for managing their patent portfolio transfers.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US9609544: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/