Assignment history

Inventors

• Andrew C. Clark (Employer at filing: Xact Data Discovery LLC)
• David W. Topham (Employer at filing: Xact Data Discovery LLC)

Original assignee

The patent RE47835 was originally assigned to Xact Data Discovery LLC. Xact Data Discovery (XDD) is a provider of eDiscovery, data management, and managed review services for law firms and corporations. Their services include forensics, eDiscovery processing, Relativity hosting, and managed review. Xact Data Discovery has been acquired multiple times: first by Clearview Capital on January 6, 2015, then sold by Clearview on December 22, 2017. JLL Partners later sold Xact Data Discovery. Most recently, on May 17, 2021, Consilio closed a merger with Xact Data Discovery, and the united company operates under the Consilio name as a global technology-enabled service provider and eDiscovery leader. Therefore, Xact Data Discovery LLC is no longer an independent operating entity.

Assignment timeline

• 2010-05-20 (executed) / recorded 2010-05-27 — Reel 024450/0148
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Andrew C. Clark; David W. Topham
  • Assignee: SENSORTECH CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: BALLARD SPAHR LLP 999 PEACHTREE STREET SUITE 1000 ATLANTA, GA 30309
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to a corporation.
• 2013-09-03 (executed) / recorded 2013-09-17 — Reel 030932/0047
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: SENSORTECH CORPORATION
  • Assignee: ECOMMERCE INNOVATIONS LLC
  • Correspondent: John R. Keville, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP, 333 SOUTH GRAND AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 90071. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer from initial corporate assignee to another company.
• 2015-06-25 (executed) / recorded 2015-07-02 — Reel 034509/0816
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: ECOMMERCE INNOVATIONS LLC
  • Assignee: XACT DATA DISCOVERY LLC
  • Correspondent: John R. Keville, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP, 333 SOUTH GRAND AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 90071. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer to a company providing eDiscovery services.
• 2017-08-01 (executed) / recorded 2017-08-25 — Reel 041180/0155
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: XACT DATA DISCOVERY LLC
  • Assignee: ECOMMERCE INNOVATIONS LLC
  • Correspondent: John R. Keville, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP, 333 SOUTH GRAND AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 90071. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer back to a previous assignee, Ecommerce Innovations LLC.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US RE47835
    2010 : Assigned to Sensortech Corp
    2013 : Assigned to Ecommerce Innovations LLC
    2015 : Assigned to Xact Data Discovery LLC
    2017 : Assigned to Ecommerce Innovations LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Ecommerce Innovations LLC has "Innovations" in its name and could potentially be a licensing-only entity, it also identifies as an e-commerce retail services provider with several brands (e.g., Inspired Silver, Inspired Shades). There are no strong indications in the assignment records themselves that it's a shell entity, such as a registered-agent address being its sole address, or explicit statements of being a non-practicing entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Sensortech Corporation, Ecommerce Innovations LLC, Xact Data Discovery LLC) are identified as known NPEs or high-frequency plaintiffs by general search or the provided directories of RPX and Unified Patents.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. John R. Keville of WINSTON & STRAWN LLP appears as the correspondent for three consecutive assignments: Reel 030932/0047 (2013-09-17), Reel 034509/0816 (2015-07-02), and Reel 041180/0155 (2017-08-25).
4. Cascading transfers — present. There are three transfers within a relatively short period (from 2013 to 2017, approximately four years), with the same correspondent, John R. Keville, on all of them. Specifically, there's a transfer in 2013 (Reel 030932/0047), then another in 2015 (Reel 034509/0816), and then again in 2017 (Reel 041180/0155).
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. Without knowledge of the first infringement suit filing date for RE47835, it is impossible to determine if any assignment occurred within 6 months prior.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no information in the assignment records or general search results indicating that any of the assignors or assignees were in bankruptcy proceedings when the transfers occurred.
7. Privateering — not present. There is no publicly available information to suggest privateering activity.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregators like RPX, Allied Security Trust, LOT Network, Unified Patents, or Open Invention Network.

Verdict

NPE — moderate confidence

The recurrence of the same correspondent, John R. Keville of Winston & Strawn LLP, across multiple assignments (Reel 030932/0047, Reel 034509/0816, Reel 041180/0155) and the cascading transfers between Ecommerce Innovations LLC and Xact Data Discovery LLC, suggest a coordinated strategy that is often associated with patent monetization efforts. While Ecommerce Innovations LLC claims to be an operating company, the nature of the back-and-forth transfers and the consistent legal representation raise a moderate signal for potential NPE activity.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/