Assignment history

Inventors

• Kazuomi Tachigi (JVCKenwood Corp)
• Kanji Kuroiwa (JVCKenwood Corp)
• Hiroshi Nakamura (JVCKenwood Corp)

The inventors were employees of JVCKenwood Corp at the time of filing. There is no indication of all inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent US9804819 was JVCKenwood Corp.

JVCKenwood Corp is a multinational electronics company that focuses on car and home electronics, wireless systems, professional broadcast, CCTV, and two-way radio equipment and systems. They produce and ship a wide range of products under brands like JVC, Kenwood, and Victor, including audio equipment, cameras, in-car devices, and professional communication equipment.

JVCKenwood Corporation was formed on October 1, 2008, from the merger of Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC) and Kenwood Corporation. The company is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

I performed a search on the USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) for patent number US9804819.

Here are the recorded assignments:

• 2016-11-07 (executed) / recorded 2016-12-01 — Reel 040483/0662

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: TACHIGI, KAZUOMI; KUROIWA, KANJI; NAKAMURA, HIROSHI (the individual inventors)
  • Assignee: JVC KENWOOD CORPORATION, JAPAN
  • Correspondent: NOT LISTED
  • Context: Initial assignment from individual inventors to the corporate entity that filed the patent application.

• 2023-09-19 (executed) / recorded 2023-09-21 — Reel 064988/0289

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: JVCKENWOOD CORPORATION
  • Assignee: SOUNDCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES LLC, VIRGINIA
  • Correspondent: Kevin Sprenger, DAIGNAULT IYER LLP, 1250 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW, SUITE 700, WASHINGTON, DC 20036. This correspondent and firm also represent SoundClear Technologies LLC in current litigation, as noted in the NPE Signals section.
  • Context: Transfer of patent ownership from the original operating company to a newly formed entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9804819
    2016 : Inventors assign to JVCKenwood
    2017 : Issued to JVCKenwood Corp
    2023 : Assigned to Soundclear Technologies LLC
    2024 : First infringement suits filed
    2025 : PTAB case IPR2025-01080 filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.

   • The patent was transferred from JVCKenwood Corporation (an operating company) to Soundclear Technologies LLC.
   • SoundClear Technologies LLC was formed in Virginia on June 29, 2023, and is wholly owned by SoundClear LLC, which was formed in Delaware on June 28, 2023.
   • Little public information is available concerning SoundClear's management or personnel.
   • Virginia state records indicate SoundClear Technologies is backed by financing, but a corporate services company signed for the secured party, obscuring the identity of its funder and individuals behind the litigation.
   • This indicates a non-operating, licensing-focused entity.
   • Supporting evidence: Reel 064988/0289 (assignment to Soundclear Technologies LLC, recorded 2023-09-21).

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.

   • Soundclear Technologies LLC is identified as a high-frequency plaintiff/asserter. It has filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits against major technology companies like Alphabet (Google) and Amazon in the Eastern District of Virginia, asserting a portfolio of patents, including US9804819.
   • Unified Patents, an anti-NPE organization, also filed an IPR against this patent (IPR2025-01080) naming Soundclear Technologies LLC as the patent owner.
   • Supporting evidence: Litigation mentions for cases 2:24-cv-00321, 1:24-cv-00728, 1:24-cv-00729 in the Virginia Eastern District Court, and IPR2025-01080.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.

   • Kevin Sprenger of DAIGNAULT IYER LLP is listed as the correspondent for the assignment to Soundclear Technologies LLC (Reel 064988/0289, recorded 2023-09-21).
   • Daignault Iyer LLP also represents SoundClear Technologies LLC in its patent infringement litigation against Google and Amazon. This recurrence as both assignment correspondent and litigation counsel for the asserting entity is a strong signal.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present.

   • There is only one transfer from the original operating company (JVCKenwood Corp) to the current assignee (Soundclear Technologies LLC) since the initial inventor assignment.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.

   • The assignment to Soundclear Technologies LLC was executed on 2023-09-19 and recorded on 2023-09-21 (Reel 064988/0289).
   • The first infringement suits naming SoundClear Technologies LLC as plaintiff against Alphabet (Google) and Amazon were filed in May 2024 (e.g., cases 1:24-cv-00728 and 1:24-cv-00729). This period is approximately 8 months after the assignment, which is within the 12-month window often associated with pre-litigation transfers, and specifically within the 6-month window from later-filed complaints (e.g. 2:24-cv-00321, 3:24-cv-00540, 2:24-cv-00320, 1:24-cv-01283 against Google and Amazon) in early 2024 (e.g., July 2024 cases 1:24-cv-01281 and 1:24-cv-01283). The initial lawsuits were filed in May 2024.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.

   • There is no indication that JVCKenwood Corp filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear.

   • While JVCKenwood Corp has divested patents to other NPEs in the past few years, there is no explicit public information indicating that JVCKenwood is funding or directing Soundclear Technologies LLC to assert this patent on its behalf against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present.

   • The current assignee, Soundclear Technologies LLC, is an asserting entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is supported by multiple strong signals: the transfer from an operating company (JVCKenwood Corp) to Soundclear Technologies LLC, a known asserter (as evidenced by its multiple infringement lawsuits against Google and Amazon and its involvement in IPR2025-01080), and the clear pattern of a shell entity (formed shortly before assignment with little public management information and backed by undisclosed financing). Additionally, the assignment occurred within months before litigation began, and the same correspondent attorney is involved in both the patent assignment and the subsequent assertion lawsuits.

Verification: USPTO Assignment Center search for US9804819.