Date: 2026-04-12 Source Data: EMAIL_METADATA_ND0001.csv, EMAIL_METADATA_ND0002.csv, All 7digit Matters.csv (Soluno), NGM_Litman_Workup.xlsx, USPTO Patent File Wrapper API, PATENT_DOCKET_DEFINITIVE.csv
CN 20529 is NGM's second USPTO Customer Number, separate from Litman's CN 37833. The key differences:
| Feature | CN 37833 (Litman's) | CN 20529 (NGM/Goldberg's) |
|---|---|---|
| Named Contact | Richard C. Litman | JOSHUA GOLDBERG |
| Organization | Nath, Goldberg & Meyer | Nath, Goldberg & Meyer |
| Address | 112 S. West Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 | 112 S. West Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 |
| Email Recipients | litman@4patent.com; uspto_nva@nathlaw.com; jgoldberg@nathlaw.com | docketing_shared@nathlaw.com; JGoldberg@Nathlaw.com; uspto@nathlaw.com |
| PAIR Recipients | uspto@4patent.com; uspto@nathlaw.com; mbashah@nathlaw.com (pre-2021); then litman@4patent.com; uspto_nva@nathlaw.com; jgoldberg@nathlaw.com | uspto@nathlaw.com; Tanya Harkins |
Critical distinction: CN 37833 has Litman's name as the correspondence address, and all 905+ patents under CN 37833 bear Litman's name on Line 74. CN 20529 has "JOSHUA GOLDBERG" as the correspondence address name. This is the firm's alternate customer number — cases filed by "Josh or Jerry" (Martha Long's words) rather than through Litman's infrastructure.
USPTO API Confirmation (App 16324804, docket 33031.00):
- patronIdentifier: 20529 (Customer Number)
- correspondenceAddressBag: nameLineOneText = "JOSHUA GOLDBERG"
- nameLineTwoText = "Nath, Goldberg & Meyer"
- Goldberg (Reg. 44126) is listed as ACTIVE attorney of record
From email C2051472_ND0000179120.msg:
"This case was filed by Josh or Jerry which is why the customer number is not the LLO number." "The client is Kadassa Int. Property who is one of our Saudi associates."
James Lafave (Nick) confirmed: "To my knowledge this should be the only active case under customer number 20529 with a PM docket number."
Context: Stephen Leon noticed docket 33031.00 (a "PM" = patent matter type) appearing under CN 20529 and flagged it as unusual. Martha explained that CN 20529 is used when cases are filed by Goldberg or Meyer rather than through the Litman Law Offices (LLO) infrastructure. This confirms CN 20529 is the non-Litman filing path at the same firm.
These three patents were already in PATENT_DOCKET_DEFINITIVE.csv tagged as "NOT_NGM_CN20529":
| Patent | Grant Date | Docket | App No. | Title | Client |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11,862,496 | 2024-01-02 | 38294U | 17021373 | Substrate processing control method, substrate processing apparatus and storage medium | Tsuruda; Toyohisa et al. |
| 11,613,641 | 2023-03-28 | 32087.16U | 17737934 | Thermochromic polymeric nanocomposites and methods of making same | KFU (Mohamed; Osama Saber Yehya et al.) |
| 10,995,549 | 2021-05-04 | 33011.00 | 16073260 | Device for stabilising a ladder, and a ladder | Kay; David et al. (Kadassa) |
| Application | Docket | Document Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15735727 | 35501U | NOA, 892 | 03/02/2021 |
| 15795300 | 35355U | CTFR | 03/02/2021 |
| 16144268 | 34186UY2 | CTNF, EXIN, 892, 1449 | 03/02/2021 |
| 16263236 | 36322U | CTFR | 03/02/2021 |
| 16324804 | 33031.00 | CTNF, 892, 1449 | 03/02/2021 |
| 16371739 | 36498U | CTNF, 892, 1449 | 03/02/2021 |
| 16422644 | 36551U | EXIN, OA.APPENDIX | 03/02/2021 |
| 16544070 | C33500UY | EXIN, OA.APPENDIX | 03/02/2021 |
| 17255070 | 38453U | M903, APP.FILE.REC | 03/02/2021 |
| 63152578 | 37474P | APP.FILE.REC | 03/02/2021 |
| Application | Patent | Docket | Document | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16761602 | 12,029,796 | 36111U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17196089 | 12,033,838 | 38548U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17260007 | 12,035,556 | 38478U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17265691 | 12,032,238 | 38500U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17274855 | 12,034,293 | 38549U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17289331 | 12,032,185 | 38607U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17417299 | 12,035,570 | 38669U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17437033 | 12,035,588 | 38782U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 17587189 | 12,033,833 | 38940U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 18081919 | 12,031,623 | 39282U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
| 18443409 | 12,029,286 | 200740.00U | EGRANT.NTF | 07/09/2024 |
Plus the 3 previously-identified patents (38294U, 32087.16U, 33011.00), the total corpus is 24 unique dockets confirmed under CN 20529.
| Docket | ND0001 | ND0002 | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33031 | 56 | 111 | 167 | Kadassa - in Soluno, RL referral |
| 200740 | 11 | 195 | 206 | Grimmett - in Soluno, RL resp |
| 32087.16U | extensive | extensive | ~10 direct refs | KFU sub-docket, CN 20529 filing |
| 38478 | 88 | 141 | 229 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38453 | 85 | 113 | 198 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38669 | 116 | 104 | 220 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38940 | 65 | 29 | 94 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38782 | 62 | 29 | 91 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 36498 | 60 | 28 | 88 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 37474 | 56 | 18 | 74 | U-series, provisional |
| 36551 | 54 | 26 | 80 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 36322 | 50 | 17 | 67 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 34186 | 48 | 17 | 65 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 35501 | 43 | 16 | 59 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 35355 | 42 | 9 | 51 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38548 | 34 | 44 | 78 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 39282 | 40 | 21 | 61 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 36111 | 39 | 21 | 60 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38549 | 32 | 58 | 90 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38607 | 34 | 43 | 77 | U-series, not in Soluno |
| 38294 | 0 (subject) | 0 (subject) | 0 | Only in Bates numbers as false positives |
| C33500 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Continuation, U-series |
Note: Email counts include both direct docket references in subject lines AND body mentions. Some counts may include false positives from Bates numbers containing the same digits. The docket 38500 count (3,429 + 2,069 = 5,498) is almost certainly inflated by false positives due to the common digit sequence.
This is the most significant individual finding. Docket 32087.16U is a King Faisal University patent (thermochromic polymeric nanocomposites), but it was filed through CN 20529 (Goldberg's customer number) rather than CN 37833 (Litman's customer number).
Why this matters: A KFU docket — part of Litman's largest client relationship (1,067 dockets, #1 patent-granting university globally) — was routed through Goldberg's personal customer number. The email thread shows Martha Long's note on 01/26/2023: "I have a note that we need to file the POA before paying the Issue Fee - POA is attached." This means a Power of Attorney was filed for this application — likely adding Goldberg as attorney — which is how it ended up under CN 20529 instead of CN 37833.
This is direct evidence of the infrastructure transfer from Litman's customer number to Goldberg's, happening on a per-application basis within Litman's own KFU client portfolio.
14 emails mention Kadassa in ND0001, 2 in ND0002. Key context:
Despite being routed through CN 20529 (Goldberg's customer number), Kadassa's matters in Soluno all list Richard Litman as referral source and responsible attorney (RL). This means Litman originated the Kadassa relationship, but Goldberg/Meyer filed the applications under their own customer number.
NGM maintained TWO parallel customer numbers at the USPTO: - CN 37833 = Litman's name as correspondence contact = all 905+ Litman-name patents - CN 20529 = Goldberg's name as correspondence contact = parallel cases by the same firm
This proves Goldberg had the ability and infrastructure to file cases under his own name from the beginning. The continued use of Litman's name on CN 37833 patents was therefore a choice, not a necessity.
Both identified clients under CN 20529 (Kadassa and Grimmett) list Litman as responsible attorney in Soluno. Kadassa explicitly lists Litman as referral source. Even when Goldberg filed cases under his own customer number, the underlying client relationships originated with Litman.
The 32087.16U docket proves that individual applications from Litman's premier client (KFU) were being selectively routed through Goldberg's CN 20529 rather than Litman's CN 37833. This is not random — it required filing a new POA and changing the customer number for that specific application.
11 patents granted in a single batch under CN 20529 on July 9, 2024 — all post-SOL-safe period, all under Goldberg's customer number. These are NOT counted in the 905-patent Litman dataset because they don't bear Litman's name. They represent the parallel track of NGM prosecution that does NOT use Litman's name.
17 of the 24 CN 20529 dockets do NOT appear in the Soluno "All 7digit Matters" export. This export covers 6,643 matters (98% Litman-originated). The absence of these 17 dockets from Soluno suggests they are truly non-Litman-originated matters — the small slice of NGM's practice that Goldberg/Meyer/Nath brought in independently. This reinforces Finding #61 (98% Litman referral) by accounting for the other 2%.
The following application numbers are confirmed under CN 20529 and can be queried via the USPTO API for additional details (assignee, attorney of record changes, filing dates):
| App No. | Docket | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 15735727 | 35501U | NOA received 03/02/2021 |
| 15795300 | 35355U | CTFR 03/02/2021 |
| 16073260 | 33011.00 | Patent 10,995,549 (05/04/2021) |
| 16144268 | 34186UY2 | CTNF 03/02/2021 |
| 16263236 | 36322U | CTFR 03/02/2021 |
| 16324804 | 33031.00 | Patent 11,427,043 (08/30/2022) |
| 16371739 | 36498U | CTNF 03/02/2021 |
| 16422644 | 36551U | EXIN 03/02/2021 |
| 16544070 | C33500UY | EXIN 03/02/2021 |
| 16761602 | 36111U | Patent 12,029,796 (07/09/2024) |
| 17021373 | 38294U | Patent 11,862,496 (01/02/2024) |
| 17196089 | 38548U | Patent 12,033,838 (07/09/2024) |
| 17255070 | 38453U | Filing receipt 03/02/2021 |
| 17260007 | 38478U | Patent 12,035,556 (07/09/2024) |
| 17265691 | 38500U | Patent 12,032,238 (07/09/2024) |
| 17274855 | 38549U | Patent 12,034,293 (07/09/2024) |
| 17289331 | 38607U | Patent 12,032,185 (07/09/2024) |
| 17417299 | 38669U | Patent 12,035,570 (07/09/2024) |
| 17437033 | 38782U | Patent 12,035,588 (07/09/2024) |
| 17587189 | 38940U | Patent 12,033,833 (07/09/2024) |
| 17737934 | 32087.16U | Patent 11,613,641 (03/28/2023) |
| 18081919 | 39282U | Patent 12,031,623 (07/09/2024) |
| 18443409 | 200740.00U | Patent 12,029,286 (07/09/2024) |
| 63152578 | 37474P | Provisional, filing receipt 03/02/2021 |
Total confirmed patents under CN 20529: 15 (including the 3 previously identified + 12 from the July 2024 batch)
"The customer number is not the LLO number" — Martha Long's statement is a direct admission that CN 37833 belongs to "LLO" (Litman Law Offices), while CN 20529 is the NGM/Goldberg filing channel. This proves the customer number infrastructure was Litman's personal asset, not the firm's.
Goldberg could have switched everything to CN 20529 at any time. The existence of CN 20529 with active prosecution proves Goldberg had a fully operational alternative. Every patent filed under CN 37833 (Litman's name) after 6/15/2020 was a deliberate choice to continue using Litman's identity.
Even CN 20529 clients originated with Litman. Both identified CN 20529 clients in Soluno list Litman as responsible attorney. The client relationships are Litman's regardless of which customer number is used for USPTO filing.
The KFU leak (32087.16U) proves selective routing. Individual KFU applications were being cherry-picked from Litman's CN 37833 to Goldberg's CN 20529, requiring a deliberate POA filing. This is the mechanism of the infrastructure transfer in action.