Assignment history

Inventors

• Yong Qin Chen

Based on the assignment records, the inventor, Yong Qin Chen, was the original assignor. The initial application was filed by and assigned to IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. It is not unusual for an inventor to be the initial assignor to their employer. No other unusual patterns are evident from the available information.

Original assignee

The original assignee of record was IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. This entity assigned the patent to the current assignee, Beckman Coulter, Inc., in a transaction recorded on August 30, 2024. The patent text indicates that the original application was filed by Beckman Coulter, Inc. on December 22, 2021. The assignment from IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. to Beckman Coulter, Inc. appears to be an internal corporate reorganization or correction, as Beckman Coulter acquired Iris International in 2012.

Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a major developer and manufacturer of biomedical testing and diagnostic instruments, and its primary business involves shipping products that would embody the claims of this flow cytometer patent. The company is an active, operating subsidiary of Danaher Corporation.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database for US Patent 12,174,106 reveals the following recorded assignments:

• 2021-12-22 (executed) / recorded 2021-12-22 — Reel Not Provided/Not Provided

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: CHEN, YONG QIN
  • Assignee: IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in search results.
  • Context: Standard assignment of invention from an inventor to their employer at the time of filing.

• 2024-08-30 (recorded) — Reel Not Provided/Not Provided

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
  • Assignee: BECKMAN COULTER, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not provided in search results.
  • Context: Internal transfer between a subsidiary (Iris International, Inc.) and its parent company (Beckman Coulter, Inc.).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12174106
    2012 : Beckman Coulter acquires Iris International
    2021 : Patent application filed by Beckman Coulter
         : Inventor Chen assigns to Iris International
    2024 : Issued as US 12174106
         : Iris International assigns to Beckman Coulter
         : Litigation filed in Delaware

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The assignees, IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. and Beckman Coulter, Inc., are both well-established operating companies in the medical device field, not shell LLCs.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Neither IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. nor Beckman Coulter, Inc. appear on public lists of high-frequency patent asserters.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Insufficient data. The publicly available assignment records do not list the correspondent attorneys for these transfers.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers are between a parent and subsidiary with a clear business relationship and occurred years apart.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present. An assignment from IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. to Beckman Coulter, Inc. was recorded on August 30, 2024. Subsequently, litigation was filed in the Delaware District Court in 2024. This timing suggests the transfer was likely made to clean up the chain of title and ensure the correct entity had standing to sue before filing a lawsuit.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no evidence of bankruptcy proceedings for any entity in the chain of title.
7. Privateering — Not present. The current owner, Beckman Coulter, Inc., is asserting the patent directly rather than through a third-party NPE.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent has not been transferred to a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent is owned and being asserted by its beneficial owner, Beckman Coulter, Inc., a major manufacturer of products in the flow cytometry space. The assignment from IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. to Beckman Coulter, Inc. just prior to litigation appears to be a standard pre-litigation transfer to consolidate ownership within the corporate structure and ensure standing, not a transfer to a non-practicing entity. This is a classic case of an operating company enforcing its intellectual property rights.

Verification of the assignment records can be performed at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search portal: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ by searching for patent number 12174106.