Assignment history

Inventors

• Kai-Sheng Lin (Employer: Applied Optoelectronics Inc.)
• Hsiu-Che Wang (Employer: Applied Optoelectronics Inc.)
• Kevin Liu (Employer: Applied Optoelectronics Inc.)

All inventors were employees of the original assignee, Applied Optoelectronics Inc., at the time of filing, which is a common pattern for corporate patent generation.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI).
AOI is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: AAOI) that designs, manufactures, and sells fiber-optic access network products, including optical transceivers, which directly embody the claims of US10714890. Its primary line of business is providing optical networking products for cable TV, fiber-to-the-home, and data center markets. AOI is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2019-01-24 (executed) / recorded 2019-02-06 — Reel 048250/0252

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: LIN, KAI-SHENG; WANG, HSIU-CHE; LIU, KEVIN
  • Assignee: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Correspondent: Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, P.A., 1600 TCF Tower, 121 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
  • Context: Assignment of invention rights from the inventors to their employer.

• 2022-11-16 (executed) / recorded 2022-11-28 — Reel 062003/0523

  • Conveyance: Patent Security Agreement
  • Assignor: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Assignee: CIT NORTHBRIDGE CREDIT LLC
  • Correspondent: Vinson & Elkins LLP, 1001 Fannin Street, Suite 2500, Houston, TX 77002-6760.
  • Context: Grant of a security interest in the patent by Applied Optoelectronics Inc. for financing.

• 2023-11-17 (executed) / recorded 2023-11-20 — Reel 065630/0906

  • Conveyance: Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patents
  • Assignor: CIT NORTHBRIDGE CREDIT LLC
  • Assignee: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Correspondent: Vinson & Elkins LLP, 1001 Fannin Street, Suite 2500, Houston, TX 77002-6760. (This correspondent recurs in this chain.)
  • Context: Release of the security interest, returning full rights to Applied Optoelectronics Inc.

• 2025-07-31 (executed) / recorded 2025-08-01 — Reel 072338/0695

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Assignee: BOKF, NA D/B/A BOK FINANCIAL
  • Correspondent: Crowe & Dunlevy PC, 321 South Boston Avenue, Suite 500, Tulsa, OK 74103.
  • Context: Grant of a new security interest in the patent by Applied Optoelectronics Inc. for further financing.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10714890
    2019 : Inventors assigned to Applied Optoelectronics Inc
         : Patent filed and issued to Applied Optoelectronics Inc
    2022 : Security interest to CIT Northbridge Credit LLC
    2023 : Release by CIT Northbridge Credit LLC
    2025 : Security interest to BOKF NA

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. All assignments are either from inventors to an operating company or involve security interests with financial institutions. There is no transfer to an entity with a name or characteristics suggesting a shell company (e.g., "IP," "Holdings," registered-agent address, no products).
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. CIT Northbridge Credit LLC and BOKF, NA D/B/A BOK FINANCIAL are financial institutions, not known patent asserters. Applied Optoelectronics Inc. is an operating company. While Unified Patents has filed an IPR against this patent, they are an anti-NPE organization, not an asserter of the patent.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Vinson & Elkins LLP appears as the correspondent for both the Patent Security Agreement (reel 062003/0523) and the Termination and Release of Security Interest (reel 065630/0906).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers involve security interests and releases, not a series of consecutive assignments through chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The legal events show US infringement cases filed in California Northern District Court (5:24-cv-08165 and 3:24-cv-08165) in 2024. The last security interest was recorded on 2025-08-01 (executed 2025-07-31) to BOKF, NA D/B/A BOK FINANCIAL (reel 072338/0695). This transfer post-dates the litigation filing, and previous transfers were for security, not outright assignment. Therefore, there's no evidence of a pre-litigation assignment to an asserting entity. The current litigation is against Applied Optoelectronics Inc. or by them.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Applied Optoelectronics Inc. remains an operating company.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence of a transfer to an NPE for assertion on behalf of Applied Optoelectronics Inc.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.
The patent's ownership consistently resides with Applied Optoelectronics Inc., an operating company that manufactures products embodying the patented technology. The recorded transfers are for standard security interests related to financing, not outright assignments to shell entities. While litigation is noted, the primary owner remains the operating company.

USPTO Assignment Center Search for US10714890