Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor is William Berson. He was employed by Pitney Bowes Inc. at the time of filing, as indicated by the assignment of his interest to Pitney Bowes Inc. on March 25, 1996, just prior to the patent's filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee, named on the issued patent, is Pitney Bowes Inc. They are a well-known operating company primarily engaged in providing mailing, shipping, and e-commerce solutions, including franking machines and related digital services. The technology described in US 5,768,384, concerning secure identification, authentication, and tracking of manufactured articles, aligns with their core business of secure printing and data management, exemplified by their existing mail processing and franking systems. Pitney Bowes Inc. remains an active, operating company as of the current date.

Assignment timeline

Based on a search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Search database (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/), only one assignment record has been found for US patent 5,768,384.

• 1996-03-25 (executed) / recorded 1996-03-28 — Reel 007899/0645
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: Berson, William
  • Assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc., Connecticut
  • Correspondent: Robert H. Hosick, Esq. Pitney Bowes Inc. 35 Waterview Dr. MS 26-21 Shelton, CT 06484
  • Context: Original assignment from inventor to the corporate assignee.

No other post-issuance assignments for this patent are recorded with the USPTO.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 5768384
    1996 : Filed by Pitney Bowes Inc. (assigned from inventor)
    1998 : Issued to Pitney Bowes Inc.
    2010 : Patent expired

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent was assigned from the inventor to Pitney Bowes Inc., an operating company. No transfers to shell entities are recorded.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Pitney Bowes Inc. is an operating company and not listed as a known patent asserter (NPE).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. Only one assignment is recorded, handled by an in-house counsel for Pitney Bowes Inc.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only a single initial assignment is recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. No litigation has been identified, and no transfers occurred prior to any such litigation.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Pitney Bowes Inc. has not undergone a bankruptcy fire-sale of this patent.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence of a transfer to an NPE to assert on Pitney Bowes' behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent was not transferred to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. The only recorded assignment for US Patent 5,768,384 is the initial transfer from the inventor, William Berson, to the original assignee, Pitney Bowes Inc., on March 25, 1996, recorded on reel 007899/0645. There are no subsequent transfers or other events in the assignment chain to suggest any NPE activity. The patent remained with its original operating company until its expiration.

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USPTO Assignment Search for Patent 5768384. https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/