Assignment history

Inventors

• Rida A. Bazzi (Arizona State University)
• Mohsen Zohrevandi (Arizona State University)

Original assignee

The original assignee, Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus, is part of Arizona State University, a public research university system. Their primary line of business is education and research. Arizona State University operates various campuses, including the Downtown Phoenix campus which focuses on programs in healthcare, nursing, law, public service, arts, sciences, journalism, and global management. They do not ship products embodying the claims in a commercial sense, but rather conduct research and develop innovations, often leading to licensing opportunities or spin-off companies through entities like Skysong Innovations. The Arizona Board of Regents is the governing body for Arizona's public university system, including Arizona State University. The Arizona Board of Regents is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2015-03-24 (executed) / recorded 2015-04-27 — Reel 035506/0049

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: BAZZI, RIDA A.; ZOHREVANDI, MOHSEN
  • Assignee: ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
  • Correspondent: MCDONALD, WILLIAM K., MCDONALD PATENT LAW, 15302 N. 78TH STREET, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA 85260
  • Context: Internal transfer from inventors to the university system's governing body.

• 2016-07-22 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-28 — Reel 039496/0029

  • Conveyance: CONFIRMATORY LICENSE
  • Assignor: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, TEMPE
  • Assignee: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
  • Correspondent: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL, 4201 WILSON BLVD., ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA 22230
  • Context: Confirmatory license granted to a government funding agency that supported the invention.

• 2025-02-20 (executed) / recorded 2025-02-21 — Reel 070292/0315

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS FOR AND ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
  • Assignee: SKYSONG INNOVATIONS, LLC
  • Correspondent: O'BANNON, GREGORY E., HAYES AND SIMPSON, LLP, 17220 N. REEDSDALE WAY, SURPRISE, AZ 85374
  • Context: Transfer of interest from the university's governing body to its technology transfer arm.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10574721
    2014 : Filed by Arizona State University
    2015 : Assigned to AZ Board of Regents
    2016 : Licensed to National Science Foundation
    2020 : Issued
    2025 : Assigned to Skysong Innovations LLC

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Skysong Innovations, LLC is described as a "separate and independent private nonprofit" focused on "rapid and wide dissemination of ASU discoveries and inventions into the marketplace" and supporting startups, it does not fit the typical profile of a pure licensing-only shell entity that does not engage in product development or commercialization activities through its ecosystem of companies. Skysong Innovations works to license technologies and launch companies that do develop products.

2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Arizona Board of Regents, National Science Foundation, Skysong Innovations LLC) are listed on common public NPE lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. Different correspondents are listed for each assignment record: MCDONALD, WILLIAM K. for the 2015 assignment, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL for the 2016 license, and O'BANNON, GREGORY E. for the 2025 assignment.

4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are three assignments recorded over a period of about 10 years (from filing to the latest assignment), which does not indicate rapid, consecutive transfers.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The patent was assigned to Skysong Innovations, LLC on February 20, 2025. Litigation was filed in the Texas Eastern District Court (Case 2:25-cv-00098) in 2025. Without a more precise filing date for the lawsuit, it's unclear if this assignment falls within 6 months prior to the first infringement suit.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the provided information that the original assignee or any subsequent assignee has filed for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — unclear. While Skysong Innovations facilitates the commercialization of ASU inventions, it is primarily engaged in technology transfer and startup creation. There is no explicit evidence of them acting on behalf of a specific operating company to assert against competitors.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data (no records, or only the original assignment)
The current assignee, Skysong Innovations, LLC, is a technology transfer arm of Arizona State University, focused on commercializing university inventions and launching startups, rather than solely asserting patents. While litigation exists (Texas Eastern District Court Case 2:25-cv-00098), there isn't enough information to definitively classify Skysong Innovations as an NPE, particularly without details on their assertion patterns or the specific nature of the lawsuit. The pre-litigation transfer signal is also unclear without a precise lawsuit filing date. (USPTO Assignment Center search for US10574721).