Assignment history

Inventors

• Eliel Bayever (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
• Sarah F. Blanchette (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
• Jonathan Basil Fitzgerald (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
• Daniel F. Gaddy (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
• Bart S. Hendriks (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
• Ashish Kalra (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
• Helen Lee (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)

At the time of filing (November 10, 2017), the inventors had assigned their rights to Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which then assigned to Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. The application was filed by Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. All inventors were associated with Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. when the initial assignments were executed.

Original assignee

Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. is listed as the original assignee on the issued patent and the entity that filed the application. Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. is a global pharmaceutical company. They market ONIVYDE® (liposomal irinotecan), a product embodying aspects related to the claims for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The company is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2017-02-07 (executed) / recorded 2018-02-07 — Reel 045172/0322

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Kalra, Ashish; Blanchette, Sarah F.; Fitzgerald, Jonathan Basil; Lee, Helen; Bayever, Eliel; Hendriks, Bart S.; Gaddy, Daniel F.
  • Assignee: Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • Correspondent: Elizabeth F. Allison, CHOATE HALL & STEWART LLP, 2 SEAPORT LANE, BOSTON, MA 02210.
  • Context: Transfer of inventor rights to an operating company.

• 2017-02-07 (executed) / recorded 2018-02-07 — Reel 045172/0333

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • Assignee: Ipsen Biopharm Ltd.
  • Correspondent: Elizabeth F. Allison, CHOATE HALL & STEWART LLP, 2 SEAPORT LANE, BOSTON, MA 02210. This correspondent also appears on the preceding assignment in this chain.
  • Context: Acquisition of oncology assets by Ipsen, including the rights to this invention.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11344552
    2017 : Inventors assigned to Merrimack
         : Merrimack assigned to Ipsen
    2022 : Patent issued to Ipsen
    2024 : First infringement suit filed
    2025 : IPRs instituted against Ipsen

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The assignor Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the assignee Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. are both operating pharmaceutical companies.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. nor Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. are identified as known patent asserters (NPEs).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Elizabeth F. Allison of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP is listed as the correspondent for both assignments (Reel 045172/0322 and Reel 045172/0333). These assignments represent a single transaction where intellectual property rights were transferred from the inventors to Merrimack, and then from Merrimack to Ipsen.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two assignments, both related to the same asset acquisition and recorded on the same date.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The assignments were recorded in 2018. The first identified district court litigation was filed in April 2024, significantly more than six months after the assignments.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. sold its oncology assets, including ONIVYDE, to Ipsen in 2017 as a strategic asset sale, not due to bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — not present. Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. is an operating pharmaceutical company asserting its own intellectual property.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by an operating pharmaceutical company.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

Ipsen Biopharm Ltd. is an operating pharmaceutical company that markets ONIVYDE®, a product related to the claims of this patent. The assignments recorded (Reel 045172/0322 and Reel 045172/0333) reflect a transfer of assets between two operating companies, ultimately leading to Ipsen holding the patent rights. The ongoing litigation involves Ipsen asserting its patent rights in district court against competitors, which is characteristic of an operating-company assertion.

USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US11344552