Assignment history

Inventors

• Daewon Lee (Newracom Inc.)
• Sungho Moon (Newracom Inc.)
• Yujin Noh (Newracom Inc.)
• Minho Cheong (Newracom Inc.)

It is assumed that the inventors were employed by Newracom Inc. at the time of filing, as Newracom Inc. is listed as the original assignee. In the US, patent rights initially vest in the inventor, but employers typically require employees to assign their inventions through employment agreements.

Original assignee

Newracom Inc. is the original assignee. Newracom Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in Wi-Fi HaLow System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for IoT connectivity. They develop and supply IoT-enabled wireless connectivity chipsets and offer a range of Wi-Fi IP covering various connectivity needs. Newracom Inc. is currently active, with offices in the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan. They have actively developed and released products, including the world's first Wi-Fi HaLow SoC based on IEEE 802.11ah.

Assignment timeline

• 2016-05-25 (executed) / recorded 2016-05-25 — Reel 037597/0861

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Cheong, Minho; Lee, Daewon; Noh, Yujin; Moon, Sungho
  • Assignee: Newracom, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Park, Hong S., Park & Associates, P.C., 1321 Upland Dr., Ste 2101, Houston, TX, 77043
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to original assignee.

• 2021-03-05 (executed) / recorded 2021-03-08 — Reel 056976/0158

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Newracom, Inc.
  • Assignee: Atlas Global Technologies LLC
  • Correspondent: Bales, Kevin, Acacia Research Corporation, 4413 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 101, Austin, TX, 78759. This correspondent is associated with Acacia Research Corporation, a known NPE.
  • Context: Transfer to a patent assertion entity (NPE) and subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9628310
    2016 : Filed by Newracom Inc
         : Assigned to Newracom Inc
    2017 : Issued
    2021 : Assigned to Atlas Global Technologies LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from Newracom Inc., an operating company that produces Wi-Fi HaLow SoCs, to Atlas Global Technologies LLC. Atlas Global Technologies LLC is described as a patent licensing company that owns and licenses standard-essential patents (SEPs) related to Wi-Fi 6, developed by Newracom Inc.. Unified Patents explicitly identifies Atlas Global Technologies LLC as an NPE and an Acacia Research entity. Their listed address in Austin, Texas, is a common location for registered-agent services.

   • Reel 056976/0158 (executed 2021-03-05 / recorded 2021-03-08)

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Atlas Global Technologies LLC is the current assignee and is identified by Unified Patents and RPX as an NPE and a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation. Acacia Research Corporation is a well-known patent assertion entity.

   • Reel 056976/0158 (executed 2021-03-05 / recorded 2021-03-08)

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Kevin Bales of Acacia Research Corporation (4413 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 101, Austin, TX, 78759) is listed as the correspondent for the assignment to Atlas Global Technologies LLC. This address is also listed as Atlas Global Technologies LLC's address. Kevin Bales is known to act as correspondent for Acacia Research Corporation and its subsidiaries, a common characteristic in NPE operations.

   • Reel 056976/0158 (executed 2021-03-05 / recorded 2021-03-08)

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one transfer recorded in the chain after the initial inventor assignment to the original assignee.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The patent was assigned to Atlas Global Technologies LLC on March 5, 2021 (recorded March 8, 2021). Atlas Global Technologies LLC began filing lawsuits related to Wi-Fi 6 patents, including former Newracom patents, against major tech players starting in August 2021 (e.g., against ASUSTeK) and November 2021 (e.g., against TP-Link). This gap of approximately 5-8 months between assignment and the first noted litigations is close to the 6-month threshold, making it unclear as a definitive signal without knowing the exact date US9628310 was first asserted.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The assignment chain does not indicate any bankruptcy proceedings for Newracom Inc. or any other entity in the chain leading to a fire-sale of assets.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Newracom Inc. sold its Wi-Fi 6 patent portfolio to Atlas Global Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation, and Atlas Global then asserted these patents, there is no explicit information in the provided context to confirm if Newracom Inc. is benefiting from these assertions in a privateering arrangement against its direct competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain terminates with Atlas Global Technologies LLC, which is identified as an NPE.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The patent was transferred from an operating company (Newracom Inc.) to Atlas Global Technologies LLC, which is explicitly identified as a patent assertion entity (NPE) and a subsidiary of the known NPE Acacia Research Corporation by Unified Patents. The use of Kevin Bales of Acacia Research Corporation as the correspondent for the assignment further supports this classification due to his known association with NPE activities. [Reel 056976/0158 (executed 2021-03-05 / recorded 2021-03-08)]

USPTO Assignment Center search page for US9628310: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html?cn=US9628310B2 (Note: The specific reel/frame numbers for US9628310 can be found by searching the USPTO Assignment Center by patent number and reviewing the listed documents).