Assignment history

Inventors

• Thomas M. Isaacson: Not explicitly stated as employed by Monticello Enterprises LLC at the time of filing. The patent rights were assigned by the inventor to Monticello Enterprises LLC on the filing date.
• Ryan C. Durham: Not explicitly stated as employed by Monticello Enterprises LLC at the time of filing. The patent rights were assigned by the inventor to Monticello Enterprises LLC on the filing date.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent as the original assignee is Monticello Enterprises LLC.

Monticello Enterprises LLC is a patent assertion entity. They are not known to ship products embodying the claims of US 9824408. Their primary line of business appears to be patent licensing and assertion.

Monticello Enterprises LLC is currently operating, as evidenced by ongoing litigation where they are the plaintiff, such as Monticello Enterprises LLC v. Petco Animal Supply Stores, Inc. (Cases 26-1694 and 26-1730 at the CAFC, filed April 20, 2026 and April 23, 2026).

Assignment timeline

• 2016-09-12 (executed) / recorded 2017-08-25 — Reel 041724/0296
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: DURHAM, RYAN CONNELL; ISAACSON, THOMAS M.
  • Assignee: MONTICELLO ENTERPRISES LLC
  • Correspondent: ROBERT E ALTEMUS, ALTEMUS & ASSOCIATES, 100 REDWOODS BLVD, SUITE 100, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 94101
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights from inventors to applicant/assignee upon application filing.

The USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US9824408 shows no further recorded assignments after the initial transfer from the inventors to Monticello Enterprises LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9824408
    2016 : Filed by inventors
         : Assigned to Monticello Enterprises LLC
    2017 : Issued
    2023 : First infringement suit filed
    2026 : Currently asserting

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent rights were assigned from the inventors to Monticello Enterprises LLC on the application filing date (Reel 041724/0296, executed 2016-09-12). Monticello Enterprises LLC is identified as a plaintiff in multiple infringement lawsuits (e.g., 6:23-cv-00761, 6:23-cv-00762, 26-1694, 26-1730), indicating its primary business is patent assertion rather than product development or sales.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Monticello Enterprises LLC is the current assignee and has initiated multiple infringement lawsuits, as detailed in the litigation summary (Monticello Enterprises LLC v. Google LLC, Monticello Enterprises LLC v. Microsoft Corporation, Monticello Enterprises LLC v. Petco Animal Supply Stores, Inc.). This identifies Monticello Enterprises LLC as a patent asserter (NPE).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The correspondent for the sole assignment of record for this patent is Robert E Altemus of Altemus & Associates (Reel 041724/0296, recorded 2017-08-25). While Monticello Enterprises LLC is known to have an active patent portfolio, and it is common for a single correspondent to handle filings for an NPE across its portfolio, there is only one recorded assignment for this specific patent, preventing a finding of recurrence within this patent's chain. I cannot definitively confirm recurrence for "elsewhere on this site's tracked patents" without further data.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment in the chain for this patent, from the inventors to Monticello Enterprises LLC.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to Monticello Enterprises LLC was executed on September 12, 2016 (Reel 041724/0296), which is the filing date of the patent application. The patent was granted on November 21, 2017. The earliest identified infringement suit involving this patent, Monticello Enterprises LLC v. Google LLC (6:23-cv-00761), was filed on November 9, 2023. This gap of over six years between the assignment recording and the first litigation means it was not a pre-litigation transfer.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The patent originated with Monticello Enterprises LLC from the inventors, not through a bankruptcy sale.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Monticello Enterprises LLC is an NPE, there is no direct evidence to suggest that the patent was transferred to them by an operating company to assert against competitors on that operating company's behalf. The patent rights were assigned directly from the inventors to Monticello Enterprises LLC at the time of application filing.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. Monticello Enterprises LLC is actively asserting the patent, not acting as a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

Monticello Enterprises LLC, the current and original assignee (Reel 041724/0296, recorded 2017-08-25), is actively asserting US Patent 9,824,408 in multiple infringement lawsuits against operating companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Petco (e.g., 6:23-cv-00761, 26-1694). This, coupled with the apparent lack of product sales by Monticello Enterprises LLC, are strong indicators of an NPE.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/