Assignment history

Based on an analysis of official records for US Patent 10,852,846, the following ownership and assertion history has been reconstructed.

Inventors

The patent names three inventors: Shun-Nan Liou, Zhou Ye, and Chin-Lung Li. At the time of the original priority filing in 2010 and the continuation filing in 2017, the inventors were associated with Cywee Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries, companies specializing in motion sensing and processing technology for consumer electronics. There are no indications of unusual inventor employment patterns, such as mass departures, following the patent filing.

Original assignee

The assignee named on the issued patent is CM HK Ltd. The full text indicates that the application was filed by and assigned to CM HK Ltd. Cross-referencing with the assignment records reveals the original parent company was likely Cywee Group Ltd., a Taiwanese company that developed and marketed motion-sensing hardware and software solutions, including 6-axis and 9-axis sensor fusion technology for remote controls, smartphones, and VR/AR devices. Cywee Group appears to have been an operating company that shipped products embodying the claimed technology.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Patent Assignment Search database lists two recorded assignments for this patent.

• 2024-02-27 (executed) / recorded 2024-03-22 — Reel 062883/0488

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: CYWEE GROUP LTD. (a Cayman Islands corporation)
  • Assignee: CYWEEMOTION HK LIMITED (a Hong Kong corporation)
  • Correspondent: Robert J. Kenney, Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch LLP, Falls Church, VA.
  • Context: Internal transfer from a parent entity to a subsidiary as part of a corporate reorganization.

• 2024-03-12 (executed) / recorded 2024-03-22 — Reel 062883/0503

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: CYWEEMOTION HK LIMITED
  • Assignee: CM HK LIMITED (a Hong Kong corporation)
  • Correspondent: Robert J. Kenney, Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch LLP, Falls Church, VA. This is the same correspondent who recorded the immediately preceding assignment.
  • Context: Transfer to a new entity, CM HK LIMITED, which subsequently began asserting the patent in litigation, indicating this was a transfer-to-asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10852846
    2010 : Priority application filed
    2017 : Continuation application filed by CM HK Ltd
    2020 : Patent issued
    2024 : Assigned to CYWEEMOTION HK LIMITED
         : Assigned to CM HK LIMITED
         : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. Per reels 062883/0488 and 062883/0503, the patent was moved in early 2024 from the original technology development group (Cywee) to CM HK LIMITED. This entity has no known products and began litigating within months of the transfer, indicating it is a special-purpose assertion entity.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. The current assignee, CM HK LIMITED, is identified as a patent asserter by industry trackers like Unified Patents. It has filed litigation against multiple defendants in 2024, including case 2:24-cv-00361 in the Eastern District of Texas.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Attorney Robert J. Kenney of Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch LLP is the correspondent of record for both of the cascading assignments recorded on March 22, 2024 (Reels 062883/0488 and 062883/0503), demonstrating the transfers were a coordinated, single event.

4. Cascading transfers — Present. The patent was transferred twice in rapid succession. The assignments were executed about two weeks apart (Feb 27 and Mar 12, 2024) and recorded on the same day (Mar 22, 2024), moving the asset from the parent company to a subsidiary and then immediately to the designated assertion entity.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. The final assignment to the asserting entity, CM HK LIMITED, was executed on March 12, 2024. The first known infringement suit naming this patent was filed approximately two months later on May 17, 2024 (CM HK Limited v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. et al, 2:24-cv-00361, E.D. Tex.). This timing strongly suggests the transfer was made to prepare for litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no evidence of bankruptcy proceedings for any assignor in the chain.

7. Privateering — Unclear. This scenario fits the pattern of privateering, where an operating company (Cywee Group) transfers patents to an NPE to assert against its competitors. However, without public disclosure of a revenue-sharing agreement, this cannot be definitively confirmed.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain of title does not involve any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The evidence strongly supports the conclusion that this patent is being asserted by a non-practicing entity. The patent was transferred from its original operating company owner through a series of rapid, coordinated assignments (Reels 062883/0488 and 062883/0503) to a special-purpose entity, CM HK LIMITED. This entity began filing infringement lawsuits just two months after securing title, a classic pre-litigation transfer pattern. The presence of at least four strong NPE signals provides high confidence in this verdict.

Verification Link: USPTO Assignment Search for US 10852846