Assignment history

Inventors

• Simon Graf: Likely an employee of Nuance Communications, Inc. at the time of filing.
• Tobias Herbig: Likely an employee of Nuance Communications, Inc. at the time of filing.
• Markus Buck: Likely an employee of Nuance Communications, Inc. at the time of filing.

The assignment of the patent from the individual inventors to Nuance Communications, Inc. on the same date as the application filing (November 18, 2016) suggests their employment by Nuance or a related entity.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent as the original assignee is Cerence Operating Company. Cerence Operating Company is a subsidiary of Cerence Inc., which develops AI-powered voice and conversational AI solutions primarily for the automotive industry. Cerence Inc. is an active, publicly traded company (NASDAQ: CRNC) and ships products embodying claims related to speech and audio processing.

Assignment timeline

• 2016-11-18 (executed) / recorded 2018-08-07 — Reel 045339/0638
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: BUCK, MARKUS; GRAF, SIMON; HERBIG, TOBIAS
  • Assignee: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T BARNARD, NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., ONE BURLINGTON BUSINESS CTR, BURLINGTON, MA 01803
  • Context: Assignment of inventor's rights to their employer, Nuance Communications.
• 2019-10-01 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-29 — Reel 050836/0191
  • Conveyance: Assignment (Corrective Assignment to correct assignee name previously recorded at this reel/frame)
  • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
  • Correspondent: MARSHALL, GERSTEIN & BORUN LLP, 233 S. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 6300, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60606-6357. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer of intellectual property from Nuance Communications to Cerence Operating Company as part of Cerence's spin-off from Nuance.
• 2019-11-06 (executed) / recorded 2019-11-07 — Reel 050898/0748
  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
  • Assignee: BARCLAYS BANK PLC
  • Correspondent: ROPES & GRAY LLP, 800 BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02199
  • Context: Patent used as collateral for a loan or financing by Cerence Operating Company.
• 2020-06-11 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-12 — Reel 051680/0173
  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: BARCLAYS BANK PLC
  • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
  • Correspondent: ROPES & GRAY LLP, 800 BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02199. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of the security interest by Barclays Bank, indicating repayment or refinancing.
• 2020-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-15 — Reel 051699/0951
  • Conveyance: Security Agreement
  • Assignor: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
  • Assignee: WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
  • Correspondent: KUTAK ROCK LLP, 1650 ARCHER PARKWAY, SUITE 200, CHEYENNE, WY 82009
  • Context: New security agreement, likely for new financing, with Wells Fargo Bank.
• 2022-03-24 (executed) / recorded 2022-04-19 — Reel 055848/0115
  • Conveyance: Assignment (Corrective)
  • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
  • Correspondent: MARSHALL, GERSTEIN & BORUN LLP, 233 S. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 6300, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60606-6357. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Further corrective or confirmatory assignment to clarify previous intellectual property transfer from Nuance Communications to Cerence Operating Company.
• 2025-01-02 (executed) / recorded 2025-01-02 — Reel 052935/0584
  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
  • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
  • Correspondent: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY, 18 NEW ENGLAND EXECUTIVE PARK, BURLINGTON, MA 01803
  • Context: Release of security interest by Wells Fargo Bank.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10783899
    2016 : Inventors assign to Nuance
    2018 : Inventors assign to Nuance rec'd
    2019 : Nuance assigns to Cerence Oper Co
         : Cerence secures with Barclays
    2020 : Barclays releases security
         : Cerence secures with Wells Fargo
         : Patent issues
    2022 : Nuance corrective assign to Cerence
    2025 : Wells Fargo releases security

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers are between established operating companies (Nuance, Cerence) and financial institutions (Barclays, Wells Fargo) for security purposes. Cerence Operating Company is an active, product-shipping entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the assignees (Nuance, Cerence, Barclays, Wells Fargo) are known NPEs. Cerence is an operating company.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.
   • MARSHALL, GERSTEIN & BORUN LLP appears on Reel 050836/0191 and Reel 055848/0115.
   • ROPES & GRAY LLP appears on Reel 050898/0748 and Reel 051680/0173.
4. Cascading transfers — Unclear. There are multiple transfers related to the Nuance-Cerence spin-off (2019-10-29 and 2022-04-19, both from Nuance to Cerence Operating Company) and back-to-back security agreements/releases (Barclays in late 2019/early 2020, then Wells Fargo in mid-2020). These are not typical "cascading transfers" to unrelated shell entities but rather indicative of corporate restructuring and financing activities.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The first recorded litigation involving this patent was filed on May 4, 2026. The most recent assignment (release from Wells Fargo) was recorded on January 2, 2025 (Reel 052935/0584), well over 6 months prior to the litigation filing.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The transfers appear to be part of a corporate spin-off and routine financing, not a bankruptcy proceeding.
7. Privateering — Not present. Cerence Operating Company is the plaintiff and an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The assignment chain clearly shows ownership by Cerence Operating Company, an active operating company, which is asserting the patent. The transfers, including the corrective assignments and security agreements/releases (Reel 050836/0191, Reel 055848/0115, Reel 050898/0748, Reel 051680/0173, Reel 051699/0951, Reel 052935/0584), are consistent with corporate restructuring (spin-off from Nuance) and financing activities common for operating entities.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US10783899: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/#!/assignment-result/search-result?id=10783899