Assignment history

Inventors

• Steven M. Hoffberg: Inventor. At the time of filing, Mr. Hoffberg was identified as an "Individual," suggesting he was self-employed or the direct owner of the intellectual property rather than employed by a specific entity in a typical corporate structure. There are no unusual patterns noted regarding his departure from an original assignee, as he initially held the patent directly.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as identified on the issued patent, was Steven M. Hoffberg, the individual inventor.

• Product Embodiment: As an individual inventor, it is unlikely Steven M. Hoffberg directly shipped a mass-market product embodying the complex "Multifactorial optimization system and method" claims. His role would typically involve invention, research and development, and subsequent commercialization or licensing of the intellectual property.
• Primary Line of Business: His primary business, in the context of this patent, would be related to intellectual property creation and potentially its early-stage commercialization or licensing.
• Current Status: Steven M. Hoffberg is an individual. His ownership of US9794797 was subsequently transferred to other entities.

Assignment timeline

• 2025-10-20 (executed) / recorded 2025-10-25 — Reel 059421/0001

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: STEVEN M. HOFFBERG
  • Assignee: BUCKOUT ADVISORS LLC SERIES ONE
  • Correspondent: Matthew R. Barlow, Holland & Knight LLP, New York, NY. This correspondent also appears on the subsequent assignment for this patent.
  • Context: Transfer from individual inventor to an intermediate holding entity.

• 2025-10-20 (executed) / recorded 2025-10-25 — Reel 059422/0002

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: BUCKOUT ADVISORS LLC SERIES ONE
  • Assignee: COGENT INSIGHTS LICENSING INC.
  • Correspondent: Matthew R. Barlow, Holland & Knight LLP, New York, NY. This correspondent also appears on the preceding assignment for this patent.
  • Context: Transfer from intermediate holding entity to the ultimate asserting entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9794797
    2005 : Priority date
    2014 : Application filed by Individual
    2017 : Patent issued to S M Hoffberg
    2025 : Assigned to Buckout Advisors LLC Series One
         : Assigned to Cogent Insights Licensing Inc.
         : Notice of Infringement issued

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from Steven M. Hoffberg to BUCKOUT ADVISORS LLC SERIES ONE (Reel 059421/0001) and then to COGENT INSIGHTS LICENSING INC. (Reel 059422/0002). Both "LLC Series One" and "Licensing Inc." suffixes are strong indicators of special purpose entities, commonly used for patent holding and licensing rather than product development.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. COGENT INSIGHTS LICENSING INC. is the current assignee (Reel 059422/0002) and is actively asserting the patent, having sent a Notice of Infringement on December 8, 2025, leading to the Hisense USA Corporation v. Cogent Insights Licensing Inc. lawsuit (2:25-cv-00414).

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Matthew R. Barlow of Holland & Knight LLP is listed as the correspondent for both assignments in the chain (Reel 059421/0001 and Reel 059422/0002).

4. Cascading transfers — Present. Two consecutive assignments were executed on the same date, 2025-10-20, and recorded on 2025-10-25 (Reel 059421/0001 and Reel 059422/0002), moving the patent from the inventor to an intermediate LLC and then to the asserting entity.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The final assignment to Cogent Insights Licensing Inc., the asserting entity, was executed on 2025-10-20 (Reel 059422/0002). This date is less than two months before Cogent Insights Licensing Inc. issued a Notice of Infringement on December 8, 2025.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no evidence of the original assignee or any subsequent assignor filing for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear / Not present. The transfer began from an individual inventor, not an operating company. While the patent is being asserted against an operating company (Hisense), the specific pattern of an operating company transferring to an NPE to assert on its behalf is not evident.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with Cogent Insights Licensing Inc., an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. This verdict is driven by multiple strong signals: the patent was transferred through shell entities to an assignee explicitly named "Licensing Inc." (Reel 059422/0002) which is a known asserter actively engaged in litigation against Hisense. The rapid, cascading nature of these transfers (executed on 2025-10-20, Reel 059421/0001 and Reel 059422/0002), handled by the same correspondent, and occurring immediately prior to the issuance of a Notice of Infringement, strongly indicates a planned assertion strategy.

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