Assignment history

Inventors

• Richard D. Haney (Employer: X One Inc at the time of filing)

Original assignee

X One Inc is the original assignee named on the issued patent. Based on the patent's description, X One Inc developed and offered the "Buddy Watch" system, which enabled location sharing among wireless device users, suggesting they shipped a product embodying the claims. The patent itself refers to "software (programmed at the factory or downloaded from the assignee of the present invention)". The current status of X One Inc is "Expired - Fee Related" as of the publication date 2017-12-26, and "Anticipated expiration" date of 2025-04-04 on Google Patents.

Assignment timeline

As of today, May 31, 2026, a search on the USPTO Assignment Center for patent number US9854402 reveals the following assignment record:

• 2017-01-27 (executed) / recorded 2017-01-27 — Reel 039474/0938
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: HANEY, RICHARD D.
  • Assignee: X ONE, INC.
  • Correspondent: BLANK ROME LLP, P.O. BOX 111, WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 20044-0111. This correspondent does not recur in this chain for this patent.
  • Context: Original assignment from inventor to the initial assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9854402
    2017 : Assigned to X One Inc
    2017 : Patent Issued
    2026 : Litigation filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The initial assignment is from the inventor to X One Inc, which appears to be an operating company based on the patent description of products and services. There are no subsequent transfers to entities with shell-like names or registered-agent addresses.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. X One Inc is not listed as a known NPE. There are no other assignees in the recorded chain that match public NPE lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. There is only one recorded assignment, so no recurrence of a correspondent can be observed in this chain. The correspondent, BLANK ROME LLP, is a large law firm that handles a wide range of legal matters and does not, in itself, signal an NPE pattern based on this single record.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There is only one assignment recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The patent issued on 2017-12-26. Litigation was filed in 2026, which is more than six months after the initial assignment. While the patent has current litigation, there's no assignment recorded immediately prior to it.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No records indicate X One Inc underwent bankruptcy proceedings and subsequently sold the patent.
7. Privateering — not present. There is no evidence of an operating company transferring the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent has not been assigned to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. There is only one recorded assignment from the inventor to the original assignee, X One Inc (Reel 039474/0938, executed and recorded 2017-01-27). This single assignment does not provide enough information to identify clear NPE or patent-troll patterns. Although litigation has been filed in 2026, the assignment record does not show any transfers that would indicate an NPE strategy. You can verify this information at the USPTO Assignment Center by searching for patent number US9854402.