Assignment history

Inventors

• Edwin S. Olson: Employer at time of filing not determinable from the patent text.
• Michael J. Holmes: Employer at time of filing not determinable from the patent text.
• John Henry Pavlish: Employer at time of filing not determinable from the patent text.

The patent indicates that the invention was made with United States Government support under grants from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, suggesting the inventors may have been affiliated with an academic or research institution at the time, or that their work was supported by such grants.

Original assignee

Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (Original Assignee listed on the patent).

Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (MEEC) is a company that develops and delivers mercury emission control technologies. They offer sorbent materials and associated systems for coal-fired power plants and other industrial sectors. Based on available information, MEEC appears to ship products embodying the claims of this patent, as their core business is mercury removal solutions.

According to Google Patents, Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. reassigned the patent to Birchtech Corp. on 2024-11-07.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center search was performed for patent number 10589225.

• 2016-12-02 (executed) / recorded 2016-12-02 — Reel 039434/0055
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: OLSON, EDWIN S.
  • Assignee: ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION
  • Correspondent: RYAN B. FARLEY, THE FARLEY LAW FIRM P.C., 24800 I-45 NORTH, SUITE 100, THE WOODLANDS, TX 77386.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to a research foundation.
• 2016-12-02 (executed) / recorded 2016-12-02 — Reel 039434/0055
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HOLMES, MICHAEL J.
  • Assignee: ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION
  • Correspondent: RYAN B. FARLEY, THE FARLEY LAW FIRM P.C., 24800 I-45 NORTH, SUITE 100, THE WOODLANDS, TX 77386. (Same correspondent as previous entry).
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to a research foundation.
• 2016-12-02 (executed) / recorded 2016-12-02 — Reel 039434/0055
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: PAVLISH, JOHN HENRY
  • Assignee: ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION
  • Correspondent: RYAN B. FARLEY, THE FARLEY LAW FIRM P.C., 24800 I-45 NORTH, SUITE 100, THE WOODLANDS, TX 77386. (Same correspondent as previous entry).
  • Context: Transfer of inventor's interest to a research foundation.
• 2017-06-08 (executed) / recorded 2017-06-08 — Reel 040000/0073
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION
  • Assignee: MIDWEST ENERGY EMISSIONS CORP.
  • Correspondent: CHARLES D. TOSCANO, COUNSEL FOR MIDWEST ENERGY EMISSIONS CORP., C/O STOEL RIVES LLP, 600 ATLANTIC AVENUE, SUITE 2100, BOSTON, MA 02210.
  • Context: Transfer from research foundation back to the original assignee.
• 2020-03-11 (executed) / recorded 2020-03-11 — Reel 042647/0351
  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION
  • Assignee: MIDWEST ENERGY EMISSIONS CORP.
  • Correspondent: CHARLES D. TOSCANO, COUNSEL FOR MIDWEST ENERGY EMISSIONS CORP., C/O STOEL RIVES LLP, 600 ATLANTIC AVENUE, SUITE 2100, BOSTON, MA 02210. (Same correspondent as previous entry).
  • Context: Corrective assignment to update assignee address.
• 2024-11-07 (executed) / recorded 2024-11-07 — Reel 064230/0037
  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: MIDWEST ENERGY EMISSIONS CORP.
  • Assignee: BIRCHTECH CORP.
  • Correspondent: PETER A. NIEVES, MCCARTER & ENGLISH, LLP, 101 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10178.
  • Context: Change of name for the current assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10589225
    2004 : Priority date
    2005 : Parent application filed
    2015 : Divisional application filed
    2016 : Inventors assign to EERC
    2017 : EERC assigns to Midwest Energy Emissions Corp
    2020 : Issued
         : Corrective assignment to MEEC
    2024 : MEEC changes name to Birchtech Corp

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Birchtech Corp. is the current assignee, and its change of name from Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. is recorded, there is insufficient public information to definitively state whether Birchtech Corp. is a licensing-only shell entity or an operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION, MIDWEST ENERGY EMISSIONS CORP., BIRCHTECH CORP.) are identified on common NPE lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Ryan B. Farley of The Farley Law Firm P.C. appears as correspondent for all three inventor assignments to ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER FOUNDATION (Reel 039434/0055). Charles D. Toscano of Stoel Rives LLP appears as correspondent for both assignments to Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (Reel 040000/0073 and Reel 042647/0351). This recurrence suggests consistent legal representation for specific transfer stages.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. The transfers are spaced out over several years, not within a rapid 24-month period between chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the patent is currently involved in litigation as indicated in the summary, the recent change of name to Birchtech Corp. occurred in 2024-11-07, and the earliest recorded litigation on Google Patents (in Delaware District Court) is from 2019-09-17, prior to this change of name. The other district court cases are more recent (2024, 2025), but the definitive link between the change of name and the initiation of these specific litigations is not clear from the provided data.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication that Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. or any other assignee in the chain filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information from SEC filings or other public sources to suggest privateering activity.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not end at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While there is a change of name for the ultimate assignee to Birchtech Corp. (Reel 064230/0037), and recurring correspondents indicate specialized legal representation, there is not enough information to definitively label Birchtech Corp. as a shell entity or to establish a clear NPE pattern. The existence of multiple litigations around the patent suggests assertion, but further details about the nature of Birchtech Corp.'s business and its litigation strategy would be needed for a high-confidence NPE determination. For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center search for US10589225.