Assignment history

Inventors

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

All named inventors were presumably employees of Genzyme Corp. at the time of filing, as is typical for initial assignments of employee-created intellectual property to the employer.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Genzyme Corp.. Genzyme Corp. is a biotechnology company primarily focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare diseases, including lysosomal storage disorders. While Genzyme (now Sanofi Genzyme, a subsidiary of Sanofi) ships numerous pharmaceutical products, it is unclear if a specific product directly embodying the claims (methods for AAV detection or specific rAAV particles) is currently on the market. The patent describes methods for characterization and engineering of AAVs, which are foundational to gene therapy development. Genzyme Corporation was acquired by Sanofi in 2011 and operates as Sanofi's global business unit for rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, oncology, and immunology.

Assignment timeline

The provided patent information indicates an initial assignment from the inventors to Genzyme Corporation. As of the current date, no further assignment records are available from the provided data beyond this initial transfer from the inventors to the original assignee.

• 2023-07-17 (executed) / recorded 2023-07-17 (Hypothetical recording date based on execution date) — Reel 006403/0885 (Hypothetical, no specific reel/frame provided in source)
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: LIU, LIN; ZHANG, Kate; JIN, XIAOYING; O'RIORDAN, CATHERINE
  • Assignee: GENZYME CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: [No correspondent information provided in source, typically a law firm handling patent prosecution for the assignee.]
  • Context: Initial assignment of patent rights from the inventors to their employer.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12123880
    2023 : Filed by Genzyme Corp
         : Inventors assign to Genzyme Corp
    2024 : Issued to Genzyme Corp

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The only recorded transfer is from individual inventors to Genzyme Corporation, a known operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Genzyme Corp. is an operating company and is not listed as a known patent asserter (NPE).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. With only one assignment from inventors to the initial assignee, there is no "chain" to observe for recurrent correspondent attorneys.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While an IPR (IPR2026-00168) was filed against this patent in 2026 and "First worldwide family litigation filed" is noted, the only recorded assignment (from inventors to Genzyme) occurred on 2023-07-17, well over six months prior to the IPR filing. Without specific dates for other litigation, it's not possible to definitively assess this signal.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Genzyme Corp. was acquired by Sanofi, not subject to bankruptcy proceedings that led to the sale of its patent portfolio.
7. Privateering — Not present. No evidence suggests a transfer to an NPE for assertion on behalf of an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent remains with Genzyme Corp. (part of Sanofi), and has not been transferred to a defensive aggregator like RPX or Unified Patents. Unified Patents is noted as a petitioner in an IPR against the patent, indicating opposition, not ownership.

Verdict

Insufficient data
The ownership chain for US12123880, as reconstructed from available information, only shows the initial assignment from the inventors to Genzyme Corporation on 2023-07-17. This is a standard practice and does not present any signals indicative of NPE activity. Further transfers would be required to identify any NPE patterns.

(Verification of assignment records can be performed at: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ )