Assignment history

Inventors

• Brian A. Blakley (employer not determinable from the patent document)

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent US7398723 was "Individual" (referring to the inventor, Brian A. Blakley). There is no information within the patent itself to determine if Brian A. Blakley, as an individual, shipped a product embodying the claims or his primary line of business at the time of filing. The current status of Brian A. Blakley as an individual operating company is not determinable from the patent record.

Assignment timeline

• 2022-05-22 (executed) / recorded 2022-05-26 — Reel 060028/0185
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Blakley, Brian A.
  • Assignee: ABC IP, LLC
  • Correspondent: Matthew S. Stippich, Daniel P. Dooley, John S. Paniaguas, Brannon & West, LLC, PO Box 310, Boise, ID, 83701. This correspondent or firm has appeared on other patent records associated with ABC IP, LLC and its related entities.
  • Context: Transfer to asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US7398723
    2003 : Filed by Brian A Blakley
    2008 : Issued to Brian A Blakley
    2022 : Assigned to ABC IP LLC
    2023 : Patent expired
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was assigned from individual inventor Brian A. Blakley to "ABC IP, LLC" on 2022-05-22 (executed) / 2022-05-26 (recorded). The assignee's name, "ABC IP, LLC," strongly suggests a licensing-only entity, and the litigation summary confirms its role in asserting patents without evidence of product manufacturing.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. ABC IP, LLC is explicitly identified in the litigation summary as a plaintiff actively asserting its patent portfolio, including the '723 patent, and is involved in a Multi-District Litigation (MDL No. 3176) concerning "forced reset triggers".
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Matthew S. Stippich, Daniel P. Dooley, John S. Paniaguas, and the firm Brannon & West, LLC are listed as the correspondent for the assignment to ABC IP, LLC on reel 060028/0185. The litigation summary indicates that ABC IP, LLC is active in a multi-district litigation, suggesting this firm and correspondent are repeat players in managing and asserting patent portfolios for this entity.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only one assignment is recorded after the initial inventor ownership.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The assignment to ABC IP, LLC occurred on 2022-05-22 (executed) / 2022-05-26 (recorded). The first identified infringement suit naming this patent (ABC IP, LLC et al v. Hoffman et al, Case Number: 1:25-cv-00389) was filed on December 22, 2025. While this is beyond the typical 6-month window, the assignment occurred after the patent's expiration (April 25, 2023) but before litigation for past damages commenced, indicating a transfer specifically to enable assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings for the original inventor.
7. Privateering — unclear. While ABC IP, LLC is an NPE, there's no explicit evidence from the provided data that an operating company transferred the patent to ABC IP, LLC to assert against competitors on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with an asserting entity (ABC IP, LLC), not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of a shell-entity transfer to ABC IP, LLC (Reel 060028/0185), the identification of ABC IP, LLC as a known asserter involved in significant patent litigation, and the pre-litigation transfer for past damages claims are strong signals. These factors clearly indicate that the patent was transferred to an entity primarily engaged in patent assertion.

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