Assignment history

Inventors

The patent names four inventors:

• George M. Church: At the time of filing, Dr. Church was and remains a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
• Jehyuk Lee: At the time of the invention, Dr. Lee was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.
• Daniel Levner: At the time of the invention, Dr. Levner was a Senior Staff Scientist at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.
• Michael Super: At the time of the invention, Dr. Super was a Senior Staff Scientist at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

All inventors were employed by or affiliated with Harvard University at the time of the invention, which is a standard pattern for university-led research. There are no unusual patterns, such as mass departures, associated with this patent.

Original assignee

The original assignee is the President and Fellows of Harvard College (commonly known as Harvard University), located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard is a major private research university and does not itself manufacture or sell commercial products. Instead, it commercializes technology developed by its researchers through its Office of Technology Development, primarily by licensing patents to established companies and spin-out ventures.

In this instance, the litigation history indicates that Harvard has licensed the patent to 10x Genomics, Inc., a major life sciences technology company that sells instruments, reagents, and software that embody the types of technologies described in the patent. Harvard remains an operating university.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search system reveals a single recorded assignment for this patent.

• 2012-12-21 (executed) / recorded 2022-06-27 — Reel 064372/0839
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: George M. Church, Jehyuk Lee, Daniel Levner, Michael Super
  • Assignee: President and Fellows of Harvard College
  • Correspondent: David A. J. D'afonseca, Proskauer Rose LLP, One International Place, Boston, MA 02110
  • Context: Standard initial assignment of rights from inventors to their employer (Harvard University), executed shortly after the first priority application filing but recorded years later to perfect the chain of title.

No other assignments have been recorded. This indicates that the President and Fellows of Harvard College remains the current owner of record of US patent 11,566,277.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11566277
    2012 : Inventors assign rights to Harvard
    2022 : Application filed
         : Inventor assignment recorded
    2023 : Patent issued to Harvard
    2026 : Harvard and 10x Genomics sue Element

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The only recorded transfer is from the inventors to their university employer, a major operating research institution.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. The sole assignee of record is Harvard University, which is not considered an NPE.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There is only one assignment, recorded by counsel at Proskauer Rose, a large, full-service law firm not primarily associated with NPEs.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. No assignment was recorded in the six months preceding the May 8, 2026 litigation filing. Harvard University has owned the patent since its issuance.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.

7. Privateering — Not present. The litigation pattern, where the patent owner (Harvard) joins its exclusive licensee (10x Genomics) as a co-plaintiff against a competitor, is a standard operating procedure for patent enforcement and is not considered privateering. The patent was not transferred to a third-party assertion entity.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The evidence strongly supports this verdict. The patent has a clean and simple ownership history, originating with researchers at Harvard University and assigned to the university itself, which remains the owner of record per the assignment at Reel 064372/0839. Harvard has licensed the patent to 10x Genomics, a significant operating company in the life sciences space. The subsequent litigation is a joint action by the patent owner (Harvard) and its licensee (10x Genomics) against a direct market competitor. All available evidence indicates this is a straightforward case of an operating company enforcing patent rights licensed from a university.

Verification link: USPTO Assignment Search for US 11,566,277