Patent 10812646

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (3)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2019-09-23 · reel 050474/0970 · Assignment

    HASHIMOTO, YASUNOBU; MASUOKA, NOBUOMAXELL, LTD.

    Correspondent: AKIRA SUZUYE · SUZUYE AND SUZUYE

    original assignment from inventors to company

  2. 2021-11-29 · recorded 2021-12-07 · reel 056461/0088 · Merger

    MAXELL, LTD.MAXELL, LTD.

    Correspondent: AKIRA SUZUYE · SUZUYE AND SUZUYE

    internal reorg

  3. 2021-12-03 · recorded 2021-12-07 · reel 056461/0089 · Change of Name

    MAXELL, LTD.MAXELL, LTD.

    Correspondent: AKIRA SUZUYE · SUZUYE AND SUZUYE

    change of name only

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Nobuo Masuoka
  • Yasunobu Hashimoto

Their employer at the time of filing was Maxell Ltd., the original assignee.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Maxell Ltd. They are a Japanese company that manufactures consumer electronics, energy products, and industrial materials. Their product lines include batteries, wireless charging products, storage devices, LCD/laser projectors, optical lenses, and headphones. Maxell Ltd. is an operating company, publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and is currently active.

Assignment timeline

I searched the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for patent US10812646. The following assignments were recorded:

  • 2019-09-23 (executed) / recorded 2019-09-23 — Reel 050474/0970
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: HASHIMOTO, YASUNOBU; MASUOKA, NOBUO
    • Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    • Correspondent: AKIRA SUZUYE, SUZUYE AND SUZUYE, 1-12-9, TORANOMON, MINATO-KU, TOKYO, JP
    • Context: Original assignment from inventors to company.
  • 2021-11-29 (executed) / recorded 2021-12-07 — Reel 056461/0088
    • Conveyance: Merger
    • Assignor: MAXELL, LTD.
    • Assignee: MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD.
    • Correspondent: AKIRA SUZUYE, SUZUYE AND SUZUYE, 1-12-9, TORANOMON, MINATO-KU, TOKYO, JP. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization/merger.
  • 2021-12-03 (executed) / recorded 2021-12-07 — Reel 056461/0089
    • Conveyance: Change of Name
    • Assignor: MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD.
    • Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    • Correspondent: AKIRA SUZUYE, SUZUYE AND SUZUYE, 1-12-9, TORANOMON, MINATO-KU, TOKYO, JP. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Internal corporate reorganization/change of name.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10812646
    2019 : Inventors assigned to Maxell Ltd
    2021 : Maxell Ltd merged to Maxell Holdings Ltd
         : Maxell Holdings Ltd name changed to Maxell Ltd

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers are between corporate entities of Maxell, Ltd., an operating company.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Maxell Ltd. is a well-known operating company.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. AKIRA SUZUYE of SUZUYE AND SUZUYE appears as the correspondent for all three recorded assignments (Reel 050474/0970, Reel 056461/0088, and Reel 056461/0089). This consistent use of a specific attorney and firm suggests a regular legal counsel handling the patent portfolio for Maxell.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers in 2021 (Reel 056461/0088 and Reel 056461/0089) were executed and recorded on consecutive days in December, and both relate to internal corporate restructuring (merger and change of name) within the Maxell corporate family. They do not appear to be rapid transfers between unrelated shell entities.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While there is litigation associated with this patent family (IPR2025-01316 and a US case filed in Texas Eastern District Court), the current assignment records do not show a transfer within 6 months before the first recorded litigation event (2025-01-22 for the IPR and 2025-01-24 for the district court case, as per Google Patents). The last assignment was in December 2021.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Maxell Ltd. is an active operating company.
  7. Privateering — Not present. There is no indication of Maxell transferring this patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with Maxell Ltd.

Verdict

Insufficient data.
The assignment records indicate internal corporate restructuring within Maxell, Ltd. (Reel 056461/0088 and Reel 056461/0089) and an initial assignment from the inventors (Reel 050474/0970). While litigation is noted for this patent family, the provided assignment data does not show any transfers to known NPEs or shell entities, nor any other strong signals like cascading transfers between anonymous entities.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US10812646

Generated 5/20/2026, 6:48:40 AM