Assignment history

Inventors

• Paul L. Regen (Plantronics Inc.)
• Anna Marie G. Puentes (Plantronics Inc.)
• Richard Hensolt (Plantronics Inc.)

All inventors were employees of the original assignee, Plantronics Inc., at the time of filing. There is no information to suggest they departed the company within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Plantronics Inc.

Plantronics Inc. is an American electronics company that produces audio communications equipment, primarily headsets and collaboration solutions. The company has a long history of shipping products embodying the claims of this patent, such as various wired and wireless headsets designed for telephony and unified communications.

In 2019, Plantronics Inc. merged with Polycom to form Poly. Subsequently, in August 2022, HP Inc. acquired Poly. Plantronics Inc. (now operating under the Poly brand) is currently an active subsidiary of HP Inc..

Assignment timeline

• 1993-05-18 to 1993-05-19 (executed) / recorded 1993-05-28 — Reel 006640/0104
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: REGEN, PAUL L.; PUENTES, ANNA MARIE G.; HENSOLT, RICHARD
  • Assignee: PLANTRONICS, INC.
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record summary.
  • Context: Initial assignment of inventors' rights to the filing entity.

The USPTO Assignment Center record for US Patent 5359647 shows only one assignment: the initial transfer of ownership from the inventors to Plantronics, Inc. This indicates that there have been no subsequent recorded transfers of the patent to other entities outside of the original corporate structure.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 5359647
    1993 : Inventors to Plantronics Inc
    1994 : Patent Issued
    2019 : Plantronics merged to Poly
    2022 : Poly acquired by HP Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent remains with the original operating company (Plantronics Inc.) and its successors (Poly, an HP Inc. company).
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Plantronics Inc. is an operating company, not a known NPE. The patent has remained within its corporate lineage.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment for this patent in the USPTO Assignment Center (Reel 006640/0104), which is the initial transfer from inventors to the original assignee. The correspondent for this initial assignment is not specified in the public summary.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. No evidence of an assignment preceding litigation has been identified.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Plantronics Inc. (now Poly) was acquired by HP Inc. and remains an active entity; there is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings related to the patent's transfer.
7. Privateering — Not present. The patent has not been transferred to an NPE for assertion on behalf of an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent has not been acquired by a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data (no records, or only the original assignment).

The USPTO Assignment Center search for US Patent 5359647 reveals only the initial assignment from the inventors to Plantronics Inc. (Reel 006640/0104, recorded 1993-05-28). There are no subsequent recorded assignments of this patent to third-party entities, meaning it has remained within the corporate chain of the original operating company, Plantronics Inc., which was later acquired by HP Inc. As such, there is no evidence to suggest NPE activity or patent trolling.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US5359647: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/