Assignment history

Inventors

• Justin Cranshaw (Carnegie Mellon University)
• Raz Schwartz (Carnegie Mellon University)
• Jason I. Hong (Carnegie Mellon University)
• Norman Sadeh-Koniecpol (Carnegie Mellon University)

There is no information to suggest inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee is Carnegie Mellon University. As a university, its primary line of business is education and research. While Carnegie Mellon University engages in research that may lead to commercial products, it is not typically a product-shipping entity in the traditional sense for this type of software-based invention. Its current status is operating.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) for patent number US10713672 shows the following assignment records:

• 2020-06-04 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-04 — Reel 051616/0651

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HONG, JASON I.; SADEH-KONIECPOL, NORMAN; CRANSHAW, JUSTIN; SCHWARTZ, RAZ
  • Assignee: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
  • Correspondent: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL, 5000 FORBES AVE., PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 15213
  • Context: Internal reorg – formal assignment of inventor rights to the original assignee.

• 2020-10-13 (executed) / recorded 2020-10-13 — Reel 052066/0096

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HONG, JASON I.; SADEH-KONIECPOL, NORMAN; CRANSHAW, JUSTIN; SCHWARTZ, RAZ
  • Assignee: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
  • Correspondent: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL, 5000 FORBES AVE., PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 15213. This correspondent recurs.
  • Context: Internal reorg – second formal assignment of inventor rights to the original assignee.

• 2025-06-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-06-18 — Reel 059954/0056

  • Conveyance: Confirmatory License
  • Assignor: CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
  • Assignee: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
  • Correspondent: BETH R. PRICE, 2415 CRYSTAL DRIVE, SUITE 800, ARLINGTON, VA 22202.
  • Context: Transfer of license rights, likely related to federal funding.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US10713672
    2017 : Filed by Carnegie Mellon University
    2020 : Issued
    2020 : Assigned to Carnegie Mellon University
    2020 : Assigned to Carnegie Mellon University
    2025 : Confirmatory license to National Science Foundation

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. All recorded assignments involve Carnegie Mellon University as either assignor or assignee, and the National Science Foundation as a licensee. These are established operating entities.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the entities in the assignment chain (Carnegie Mellon University, National Science Foundation) are identified as known patent asserters or NPEs.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. The correspondent "CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL" appears on both the 2020-06-04 (Reel 051616/0651) and 2020-10-13 (Reel 052066/0096) assignments.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are two assignments to the same entity (Carnegie Mellon University) within a short period in 2020, but these appear to be internal reorgs (inventor assignments) and not transfers through chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. There is no indication of litigation for this patent in 2026 or prior.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Carnegie Mellon University is an active operating university.
7. Privateering — not present. There is no evidence of an operating company transferring to an NPE for assertion purposes.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The National Science Foundation is a government agency that provides funding for research, not a defensive aggregator in the patent context.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While there is a repeat correspondent (Carnegie Mellon University's General Counsel), this is associated with internal assignments to the original operating entity and does not indicate an NPE pattern. There are no other signals for shell entities, known asserters, cascading transfers, pre-litigation transfers, bankruptcy fire-sales, or privateering. The confirmatory license to the National Science Foundation is consistent with federal funding of research, not patent assertion. Based on the available assignment records, there is no evidence to suggest an NPE / patent-troll pattern for US10713672. The full assignment record can be verified at the USPTO Assignment Center.