Assignment history

Based on the assignment records from the USPTO Patent Assignment Search and other public data sources, here is the full ownership analysis for US patent 10,430,015.

Inventors

• Sandeep R. Patil
• Sarbajit K. Rakshit

Both inventors assigned their rights to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) on July 31, 2013, prior to the patent application's filing date of August 9, 2013. This indicates they were employees or contractors of IBM at the time of the invention. No unusual employment patterns, such as mass departures post-filing, are evident from the public record.

Original assignee

The original assignee of record is International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), a multinational technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. IBM is a prolific patent filer and a major operating company that researches, develops, and sells a vast portfolio of computer hardware, middleware, and software, in addition to providing hosting and consulting services. IBM is an active, publicly-traded operating company. It is not primarily in the business of patent assertion.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Center for US patent 10,430,015 reveals only one recorded assignment.

• 2013-07-31 (executed) / recorded 2013-08-09 — Reel 030978/0729
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: Sandeep R. Patil; Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  • Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
  • Correspondent: IBM Corp, c/o Gregory K. Canning, Intellectual Property Law Dept., 11501 Burnet Road, Austin, TX, 78758
  • Context: Standard pre-filing assignment from inventors to their employer.

Note on Unrecorded Transfers: The official USPTO assignment record shows IBM as the sole owner since the initial assignment. However, the PTAB litigation summary for case IPR2025-01480, filed September 15, 2025, lists Samsung Display Co Ltd as the "Patent Owner". This strongly implies that an unrecorded transfer of ownership from IBM to Samsung Display occurred prior to that date. Such portfolio sales between operating companies are common, and the parties do not always record the new assignment for every individual patent at the USPTO.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10430015
    2013 : Inventors assign patent to IBM
         : Application filed by IBM
    2019 : Patent issued
    2025 : PTAB IPR lists Samsung Display as owner

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer: Not present. The only recorded assignee is IBM, a major operating company. The owner identified in the subsequent PTAB proceeding, Samsung Display Co Ltd, is also a major global operating company, not a licensing-only shell entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain: Not present. Neither IBM nor Samsung Display are on public lists of high-frequency NPE plaintiffs.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain: Not present. There is only one recorded assignment, and the correspondent is IBM's internal IP law department, which is not a known NPE-affiliated firm.

4. Cascading transfers: Not present. The record shows only a single transfer.

5. Pre-litigation transfer: Unclear. An IPR (IPR2025-01480) was filed in September 2025. While no assignment was recorded prior to this date, the change in ownership from IBM to Samsung Display must have occurred before the IPR was filed. This transfer was between two operating companies, not from an operating company to an NPE for the purpose of assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale: Not present. Neither IBM nor Samsung Display has undergone bankruptcy proceedings.

7. Privateering: Not present. The dispute appears to be a direct one between two large technology competitors (BOE Technology Group vs. Samsung Display), not an assertion by a third-party NPE on an operating company's behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE): Not present. The patent has not been transferred to RPX, LOT Network, or a similar defensive entity.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The recorded ownership chain is simple, showing only the initial transfer from the inventors to IBM. However, the PTAB case IPR2025-01480, which lists Samsung Display as the patent owner, provides strong evidence of an unrecorded transfer between two major operating companies. The subsequent dispute with BOE Technology Group is characteristic of litigation between direct competitors in the technology sector, not a campaign by a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE). All available evidence points to the patent being owned and asserted by a product-producing company.

Verification link: USPTO Assignment Search for US 10430015