Assignment history

Inventors

• Hung-Chen Chen (Employer at time of filing unknown)
• Chie-Ming Chou (CEO of FG Innovation Company Limited and Spectacular Co., Ltd. at filing, previously Industrial Technology Research Institute, National Chiao Tung University, and Foxconn)
• Chia-Hung Wei (Employer at time of filing unknown)
• Mei-Ju Shih (Employer at time of filing unknown)

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Hannibal IP LLC.
Hannibal IP LLC is an affiliate of Longhorn IP LLC and specializes in acquiring portfolios of patents related to 5G wireless technologies, which are often declared essential to the 3GPP 5G Standard. Hannibal IP LLC's primary business appears to be patent monetization through licensing and assertion, as evidenced by its filing of patent infringement complaints against companies like Samsung. As of May 2026, Hannibal IP LLC is an active company. It does not appear to ship products embodying the claims; rather, it acquires patents related to cutting-edge 5G Wireless Technologies and leverages them for licensing and litigation.

Assignment timeline

• 2021-06-10 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-10 — Reel 056461/0430

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Hung-Chen Chen, Chie-Ming Chou, Mei-Ju Shih, Chia-Hung Wei
  • Assignee: FG Innovation Company Limited
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey M. Daniel, SAIDMAN DesignLaw Group, LLC, 1375 Broadway, Suite 300, New York, NY 10018. This correspondent also handled the next assignment.
  • Context: Transfer from inventors to an operating company, likely standard employee intellectual property assignment.

• 2021-09-15 (executed) / recorded 2021-09-15 — Reel 057138/0333

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: FG Innovation Company Limited
  • Assignee: HANNIBAL IP LLC
  • Correspondent: Jeffrey M. Daniel, SAIDMAN DesignLaw Group, LLC, 1375 Broadway, Suite 300, New York, NY 10018. This correspondent also handled the previous assignment.
  • Context: Transfer of patent from an operating company to a patent assertion entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11272535
    2019 : Priority date
    2020 : Application filed
    2021 : Assigned to FG Innovation Co
         : Assigned to Hannibal IP LLC
    2022 : Patent granted
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. The patent was transferred from FG Innovation Company Limited to Hannibal IP LLC (Reel 057138/0333). FG Innovation Company Limited is described as an IP management company, but it also has a corporate parent (Foxconn) that is involved in electronics manufacturing. Hannibal IP LLC, an affiliate of Longhorn IP, explicitly states its business as acquiring and managing 5G wireless technology patent portfolios, engaging in licensing and litigation, rather than product manufacturing. The "IP LLC" suffix is a common indicator of a licensing-focused entity.
2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Hannibal IP LLC is an affiliate of Longhorn IP LLC. Longhorn IP is a known patent monetization firm that forms various LLCs to hold and assert patent portfolios. Hannibal IP LLC has filed patent infringement complaints against Samsung.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Jeffrey M. Daniel of SAIDMAN DesignLaw Group, LLC (1375 Broadway, Suite 300, New York, NY 10018) handled both the assignment from the inventors to FG Innovation Company Limited (Reel 056461/0430) and the subsequent assignment from FG Innovation Company Limited to Hannibal IP LLC (Reel 057138/0333).
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are two assignments recorded, one from inventors to FG Innovation and then from FG Innovation to Hannibal IP LLC. While the second transfer occurred within 24 months of the first, it is a two-step transfer, not multiple consecutive transfers through chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was assigned to Hannibal IP LLC on September 15, 2021 (Reel 057138/0333). Hannibal IP LLC filed an infringement complaint against Samsung on February 27, 2025, approximately three years and five months after the assignment. While not within 6 months of issuance, it is notable that litigation was filed by the acquiring entity.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of bankruptcy filings by FG Innovation Company Limited or the inventors.
7. Privateering — unclear. While FG Innovation Company Limited's corporate parent, Foxconn, is an operating company, and Sharp (also Foxconn-affiliated) has acquired telecommunication patents from FG Innovation, the direct transfer of this specific patent to Hannibal IP LLC, a known NPE affiliate, suggests a monetization strategy independent of a direct operating-company competitive assertion. It's possible Foxconn or Sharp benefits indirectly, but direct evidence of privateering for this patent is not immediately available.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by Hannibal IP LLC, an entity associated with patent assertion, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

This verdict is based on several strong signals: the transfer to Hannibal IP LLC, a known affiliate of patent monetization firm Longhorn IP; the presence of a repeat correspondent attorney across multiple assignment records (Jeffrey M. Daniel) [Reel 056461/0430, 057138/0333]; and the fact that Hannibal IP LLC does not produce products but rather focuses on patent licensing and litigation. Further, Hannibal IP LLC has already filed an infringement lawsuit against Samsung involving this patent.

For verification, you can search the USPTO Assignment Center at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ by entering patent number "11272535".