Assignment history

Inventors

• Alfred Morgenstern (European Atomic Energy Community Euratom)
• Frank BRUCHERTSEIFER (European Atomic Energy Community Euratom)
• Christos Apostolidis (European Atomic Energy Community Euratom)
• Uwe Haberkorn (Universitaet Heidelberg)
• Frederik Giesel (Universitaet Heidelberg)
• Clemens KRATOCHWIL (Universitaet Heidelberg)

The inventors were affiliated with the original co-assignees, European Atomic Energy Community Euratom and Universitaet Heidelberg, at the time of filing. The assignments in 2019 reflect the formal transfer of their interests to these institutions. There are no unusual patterns suggesting inventors departing the original assignee.

Original assignee

The original assignees named on the issued patent are European Atomic Energy Community Euratom and Universitaet Heidelberg.

• European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom): An international organization established to create a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, develop nuclear energy, and distribute it to member states. Its primary line of business is research, development, and regulation related to nuclear energy. It is an operating entity. It is not known to directly ship commercial products embodying the claims, as its role is more foundational research and regulatory.
• Universitaet Heidelberg (Heidelberg University): A public research university. Its primary line of business is education and academic research. It is an operating entity. It does not ship commercial products embodying the claims.

Both entities are currently active.

Assignment timeline

• 2019-07-16 (executed) / recorded 2019-07-16 — Reel 049772/0076

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: GIESEL, FREDERIK; HABERKORN, UWE; KRATOCHWIL, CLEMENS
  • Assignee: UNIVERSITAET HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
  • Correspondent: Not specified in the provided patent record.
  • Context: Formal assignment of inventor rights to a research institution.

• 2019-07-16 (executed) / recorded 2019-07-16 — Reel 049769/0795

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: MORGENSTERN, ALFRED; BRUCHERTSEIFER, FRANK; APOSTOLIDIS, CHRISTOS
  • Assignee: THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY (EURATOM), REPRESENTED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, BELGIUM
  • Correspondent: Not specified in the provided patent record.
  • Context: Formal assignment of inventor rights to a research institution.

• 2023-03-14 (filed) / recorded 2023-02-13 — Not an assignment, but a legal event: PTAB case IPR2023-00551 filed (Settlement). Petitioner: FUSION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

• 2025-02-13 (filed) / recorded 2025-01-14 — Not an assignment, but a legal event: PTAB case IPR2025-01582 filed (Pending). Petitioner data from Unified Patents.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10980901
    2016 : Filed by Euratom & Uni Heidelberg
    2019 : Inventors assigned to Euratom
         : Inventors assigned to Uni Heidelberg
    2021 : Patent granted
    2023 : IPR filed (settled)
    2025 : IPR filed (pending)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The assignees, European Atomic Energy Community Euratom and Universitaet Heidelberg, are established research and academic institutions, not shell entities. The assignments recorded are from individual inventors to these institutions.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Neither European Atomic Energy Community Euratom nor Universitaet Heidelberg are identified as known patent asserters or Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information is not explicitly provided in the Google Patents legal events for the assignments listed.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only two assignment records appear, both on the same date (2019-07-16), from different sets of inventors to the two original co-assignees. This does not constitute cascading transfers through chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While Google Patents notes "Family has litigation" and "First worldwide family litigation filed", the specific date of the first infringement suit is not provided in relation to the assignment events. The assignments from inventors occurred in 2019, prior to the patent grant in 2021.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the provided information that either of the assignees has filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence of an operating company transferring the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is held by research institutions, not a defensive aggregator like RPX, AST, LOT Network, or OIN.

Verdict

Insufficient data.
The patent is currently held by the original co-assignees, European Atomic Energy Community Euratom and Universitaet Heidelberg, which are legitimate research institutions. The only assignment records pertain to the formal transfer of inventor rights to these institutions in 2019 (Reel 049772/0076 and Reel 049769/0795). While the patent family is noted as having litigation and two IPRs have been filed (IPR2023-00551 and IPR2025-01582), there is no evidence within the ownership chain itself to suggest a transfer to a known NPE or the presence of common NPE patterns. The correspondent information, which could offer further insight, is not available from the provided data.

USPTO Assignment Center search page for verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/