Patent 12174107

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Ownership chain (2)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2024-09-03 · reel 007135/0793 · Assignment

    CHEN, YONG QINIRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC.

    Correspondent: BRENT D. REYNOLDS · BECKMAN COULTER

    Inventor assigned patent rights to IRIS International, Inc.

  2. 2024-09-03 · reel 007135/0793 · Assignment

    IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC.BECKMAN COULTER, INC.

    Correspondent: BRENT D. REYNOLDS · BECKMAN COULTER

    IRIS International, Inc. assigned patent rights to Beckman Coulter, Inc.

Assignment history

Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.

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Inventors

  • Yong Qin Chen: Employer: IRIS International, Inc. (at the time of priority date/filing of related applications).

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Beckman Coulter Inc.. Beckman Coulter Inc. is a leading global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of products that simplify, automate, and innovate complex biomedical testing. They ship a wide range of products, including flow cytometers that embody the claims of this patent. Beckman Coulter Inc. is currently operating as a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation.

Assignment timeline

  • 2024-09-03 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-03 — Reel 007135/0793

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: CHEN, YONG QIN
    • Assignee: IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
    • Correspondent: BRENT D. REYNOLDS, BECKMAN COULTER, INC., 250 S. KRAEMER BLVD., BREA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, 92821
    • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to IRIS International, Inc.

  • 2024-09-03 (executed) / recorded 2024-09-03 — Reel 007135/0793

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: IRIS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
    • Assignee: BECKMAN COULTER, INC.
    • Correspondent: BRENT D. REYNOLDS, BECKMAN COULTER, INC., 250 S. KRAEMER BLVD., BREA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, 92821. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: IRIS International, Inc. assigned patent rights to Beckman Coulter, Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12174107
    2012 : Priority date
    2013 : PCT application filed
    2024 : Inventor assigned to Iris Intl
         : Iris Intl assigned to Beckman Coulter
         : Application filed by Beckman Coulter Inc
         : Patent granted

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. Both IRIS International, Inc. and Beckman Coulter, Inc. are operating companies.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Neither IRIS International, Inc. nor Beckman Coulter, Inc. are listed on public NPE lists.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Brent D. Reynolds of Beckman Coulter, Inc. is listed as the correspondent for both assignments recorded on 2024-09-03 (Reel 007135/0793).
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are two assignments on the same day, but they represent a single transfer from the inventor through an acquired entity to the current operating company.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The assignments were recorded on 2024-09-03, and litigation commenced in August 2024. While close, the assignments occurred before the publication date of the granted patent and likely reflect the proper recording of ownership prior to assertion.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No evidence of bankruptcy proceedings for the assignors.
  7. Privateering — unclear. There is no public information to suggest Beckman Coulter Inc. is using an NPE for assertion.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Beckman Coulter, Inc., an operating company.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. The assignment records (Reel 007135/0793) show the patent was assigned from the inventor to IRIS International, Inc., and then from IRIS International, Inc. to Beckman Coulter, Inc. on the same day (2024-09-03). Beckman Coulter, Inc. is an operating company that manufactures and sells flow cytometers, and the current litigation appears to be an assertion by an operating company against a competitor.

USPTO Assignment Center search: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ (search for patent number 12174107).

Generated 5/24/2026, 6:47:21 AM