Assignment history

Inventors

• Ryan Patrick OWEN: Genentech Inc. (based on assignment to Genentech Inc.)
• Ahmar Iqbal: Genentech Inc. (based on assignment to Genentech Inc.)
• Robert A. Wood: The Johns Hopkins University (based on assignment to The Johns Hopkins University, which then assigned to Genentech Inc.)

No unusual patterns are observed; these are typical assignments from individual inventors to their employers or associated institutions.

Original assignee

The original assignee was Genentech Inc., a major biotechnology company and a subsidiary of Roche. Genentech Inc., in conjunction with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, markets XOLAIR® (omalizumab), which is the anti-IgE antibody central to the patent's claims. While omalizumab was previously approved for other indications, this patent specifically concerns its use for treating multiple food allergies based on new findings. Therefore, Genentech Inc. ships a product embodying the claims (omalizumab), and the patent describes a new therapeutic use for it. Genentech Inc. is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

The following assignment records are based on the legal events listed on Google Patents for US12030959B1, which explicitly cite "reassignment" events. For entries where specific execution or recording dates are not separately distinguished, the single event date is used as the recording date, and the execution date is noted as not specified. Correspondent information is not provided in the source for most entries.

• 2024-01-19 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-01-19
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: OWEN, Ryan Patrick
  • Assignee: GENENTECH, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source.
  • Context: Inventor assignment to employer.
• 2024-06-10 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-06-10
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: WOOD, ROBERT A.
  • Assignee: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source.
  • Context: Inventor assignment to academic institution.
• 2024-06-10 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-06-10
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: IQBAL, AHMAR
  • Assignee: GENENTECH, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source.
  • Context: Inventor assignment to employer.
• 2024-06-10 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-06-10
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
  • Assignee: GENENTECH, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source.
  • Context: Academic institution assignment to corporate entity.
• 2024-06-10 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-06-10
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: GENENTECH, INC.
  • Assignee: NOVARTIS AG
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source.
  • Context: Corporate transfer between co-developers/co-marketers.
• 2024-06-13 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-06-13 — Reel 067678/0085
  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: GENENTECH, INC.
  • Assignee: NOVARTIS AG, GENENTECH, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source, but the record notes it corrects previous receiving party data.
  • Context: Corrective assignment to establish joint ownership.
• 2024-06-20 (executed date not specified) / recorded 2024-06-20 — Reel 67725/147
  • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
  • Assignor: GENENTECH, INC.
  • Assignee: GENENTECH, INC., NOVARTIS AG
  • Correspondent: Not provided in the source, but the record notes it corrects an executed date.
  • Context: Corrective assignment to refine details of previous record.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12030959
    2023 : Filed by Genentech Inc
    2024 : Owen assigns to Genentech
         : Wood assigns to Johns Hopkins
         : Iqbal assigns to Genentech
         : Johns Hopkins assigns to Genentech
         : Genentech assigns to Novartis
         : Corrective assign: Novartis Genentech
         : Corrective assign: Genentech Novartis
         : Patent Issued

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The assignees, Genentech Inc., The Johns Hopkins University, and Novartis AG, are established operating entities or academic institutions.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the named assignees are recognized as high-frequency NPEs.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. Correspondent information (attorney name, firm, address) is not explicitly provided for the majority of the recorded assignments within the source text.
4. Cascading transfers — present. Multiple assignments (inventor to employer/institution, institution to company, company to company, and subsequent corrective assignments) occurred within a short timeframe (January to June 2024). This reflects typical pre-issuance vesting and ownership adjustments among corporate and academic partners.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. All recorded assignments occurred before the patent's issue date (July 9, 2024), and no litigation has been identified as of May 26, 2026.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Genentech Inc. and Novartis AG are active, operating companies.
7. Privateering — not present. No evidence suggests a privateering arrangement.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with operating companies (Genentech Inc. and Novartis AG), not defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

This verdict is supported by the fact that the patent is currently assigned jointly to Genentech Inc. and Novartis AG, both major pharmaceutical operating companies [cite: Reel 067678/0085, Reel 67725/147]. These companies co-market XOLAIR® (omalizumab), the anti-IgE antibody central to the patent's claims, indicating they ship a product embodying the invention. The assignments reflect standard IP vesting from inventors and an academic institution to the corporate entities and subsequent establishment of joint ownership between the co-marketing partners.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 12030959).