Assignment history

Inventors

• Barry E. Tuller (Whirlpool Corp)
• Steven B. Balinski (Whirlpool Corp)
• David Jason Brightbill (Whirlpool Corp)
• Frederick Thomas Roderick (Whirlpool Corp)
• Joseph T. Ferencevich (Whirlpool Corp)
• Ryan Kevin Roth (Whirlpool Corp)
• William J. Snell (Whirlpool Corp)

All inventors were employed by Whirlpool Corp at the time of filing. This is typical for patents assigned to large corporations and does not suggest an unusual pattern of inventor departure.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Whirlpool Corp. Whirlpool Corp is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, microwave ovens, ovens, ranges, and dishwashers. They ship a wide range of products globally under brands like Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, and JennAir. As of today, Whirlpool Corp is an active, publicly traded company (NYSE: WHR).

Assignment timeline

• 2018-03-30 (executed) / recorded 2018-03-30 — Reel 045398/0532
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: TULLER, BARRY E.; BALINSKI, STEVEN B.; BRIGHTBILL, DAVID JASON; FERENCEVICH, JOSEPH T.; ROTH, RYAN KEVIN; SNELL, WILLIAM J.; RODERICK, FREDERICK THOMAS
  • Assignee: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION, c/o HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC., P. O. BOX 2245, MORRISTOWN, NJ, 07962-2245.
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to employer.

The USPTO Assignment Center has no other records for this patent. This indicates that Whirlpool Corporation remains the current owner of US 10,512,385.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10512385
    2018 : Assigned to Whirlpool Corp
    2019 : Issued to Whirlpool Corp
    2025 : Litigation filed (BSH v Whirlpool)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The only recorded assignment is from the individual inventors to Whirlpool Corporation, an operating company that manufactures and markets home appliances. No shell entities are observed in the assignment chain.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Whirlpool Corporation is an operating company and not identified as a known NPE/patent troll. The litigation context shows Whirlpool Corporation as the defendant in the ongoing case 2:25-cv-01042, with BSH Home Appliances Corporation as the plaintiff. This suggests Whirlpool is being asserted against, rather than being the asserter of this particular patent in this case.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There is only one assignment in the recorded chain, from the inventors to Whirlpool Corporation. The correspondent is listed as WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION, c/o HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.. There is no recurrence of this correspondent on other transfers for this patent.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only a single assignment from the inventors to the original assignee is recorded.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The patent was assigned to Whirlpool Corp on March 30, 2018, and issued on December 24, 2019. The first infringement suit (Case 2:25-cv-01042) was filed on October 15, 2025. This gap of several years between the assignment and the litigation filing does not indicate a pre-litigation transfer.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Whirlpool Corporation is an active, publicly traded company, and there is no indication of bankruptcy in the assignment record or other provided information.

7. Privateering — Unclear. While Whirlpool is an operating company, the lawsuit against it by BSH Home Appliances Corporation (an operating company in the same industry) means Whirlpool is currently a defendant. Without further details about the nature of the litigation and whether Whirlpool has its own assertions against BSH, it's unclear if privateering is a factor.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently owned by Whirlpool Corporation, an operating company, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.
The only recorded assignment for US 10,512,385 is from the inventors to Whirlpool Corporation, a large multinational manufacturer of home appliances. The litigation record indicates that Whirlpool Corporation is currently a defendant in a patent infringement case related to this patent, filed by BSH Home Appliances Corporation, another operating company in the appliance industry. This suggests that the patent is currently being asserted against an operating company, rather than by an NPE.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US10512385: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/