Assignment history

Inventors

• Xiaoying Jin (Genzyme Corp)
• Catherine O'Riordan (Genzyme Corp)
• Lin Liu (Genzyme Corp)
• Kate ZHANG (Genzyme Corp)

All inventors appear to have been employed by Genzyme Corp at the time of filing, as evidenced by the assignment of their interests to Genzyme Corp on 2017-08-08, shortly before the patent's filing date. There is no indication of unusual departure patterns.

Original assignee

Genzyme Corp. is the original assignee. Genzyme Corp, a subsidiary of Sanofi, is a biotechnology company that develops and manufactures biopharmaceuticals, including gene therapies. They ship products embodying claims, particularly in rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, oncology, and immunology. Genzyme Corp is currently operating as a subsidiary of Sanofi.

Assignment timeline

• 2017-08-08 (executed) / recorded 2019-03-13 — Reel 047814/0002
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: LIU, LIN; ZHANG, KATE; JIN, XIAOYING; O'RIORDAN, CATHERINE
  • Assignee: GENZYME CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: Genzyme Corp; ONE KENDALL SQ; CAMBRIDGE, MA 02139
  • Context: Standard assignment of patent rights from inventors to their employer.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11698377
    2017 : Filed by Genzyme Corp
    2019 : Inventors assigned to Genzyme Corp
    2023 : Issued to Genzyme Corp
    2026 : IPR case filed IPR2026-00167

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The only recorded transfer is from the individual inventors to Genzyme Corporation, a known operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Genzyme Corp is an operating company and not listed as a known NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not applicable. Only one assignment from the inventors is recorded, with Genzyme Corp itself listed as the correspondent (Reel 047814/0002).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one assignment from the inventors is recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While a PTAB case (IPR2026-00167) has been filed (status pending, according to Google Patents), there is no record of an infringement suit. The assignment of inventors' rights to Genzyme Corp occurred in 2017/2019, long before the patent's issuance in 2023 and the IPR filing in 2026.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Genzyme Corp is an active subsidiary of Sanofi.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence to suggest this pattern.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently assigned to Genzyme Corp.

Verdict

Insufficient data. The only recorded assignment is a standard transfer of rights from the individual inventors to their employer, Genzyme Corporation, which is an operating company. There are no subsequent assignments or other clear signals of NPE activity in the ownership chain. The patent appears to be held by its original operating assignee.

Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (Search for patent number 11698377)