Patent 7302042

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. 2006-04-17 · recorded 2006-04-28 · reel 017550/0775 · Assignment

    Hansen, Wayne Rollins; Smith, RickyVarian Medical Systems Technologies, Inc.

    Correspondent: · BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN

    Original assignment from inventors to their employer

  2. 2008-09-26 · recorded 2008-10-13 · reel 021669/0848 · Merger

    Varian Medical Systems Technologies, Inc.Varian Medical Systems Technologies, Inc.

    Internal reorganization / merger

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.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Wayne Rollins Hansen (employed by Varian Medical Systems Technologies Inc. at the time of filing)
  • Ricky Smith (employed by Varian Medical Systems Technologies Inc. at the time of filing)

It is a common practice for employee-inventors to assign their rights to their employer, especially when the invention relates to their work for the company and is developed using company resources. There is no indication of the inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Varian Medical Systems Technologies Inc. This entity was later absorbed by Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

Varian Medical Systems, Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions, including X-ray imaging components and systems. The patent describes an X-ray tube, which is a core product area for Varian Medical Systems.

Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was acquired by Siemens Healthineers in April 2021 and now operates as a subsidiary, retaining its headquarters and employees. Therefore, its current status is an operating subsidiary.

Assignment timeline

  • 2006-04-17 (executed) / recorded 2006-04-28 — Reel 017550/0775
    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Hansen, Wayne Rollins; Smith, Ricky
    • Assignee: Varian Medical Systems Technologies, Inc.
    • Correspondent: BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, 12400 WILSHIRE BLVD. 7TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90025-1026
    • Context: Original assignment from inventors to their employer.
  • 2008-09-26 (executed) / recorded 2008-10-13 — Reel 021669/0848
    • Conveyance: Merger
    • Assignor: VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    • Assignee: VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.
    • Correspondent: VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC., LEGAL DEPT. M/S H0970, 3100 HANSEN WAY, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 94304-1030
    • Context: Internal reorganization / merger of Varian Medical Systems Technologies, Inc. into Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7302042
    2006 : Inventors assigned to Varian Medical Systems Technologies Inc
    2007 : Patent issued
    2008 : Varian Medical Systems Technologies Inc merged into Varian Medical Systems Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The transfers are between Varian entities, which are known operating companies in the medical device sector.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. and its predecessor are not listed as known NPEs.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The first assignment uses Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLP. The second uses Varian Medical Systems, Inc.'s internal legal department. There is no recurrence of a specific correspondent attorney or firm.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. Only two assignments are recorded, occurring more than two years apart.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. There is no information provided about any infringement suits involving this patent, so it's impossible to determine if a pre-litigation transfer occurred.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was acquired by Siemens Healthineers, not dissolved in bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — not present. The patent remains with an operating company (now a subsidiary of Siemens Healthineers) that develops and sells products in the same field.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The current owner is Varian Medical Systems, Inc., an operating company.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion
The patent remains with Varian Medical Systems, Inc., which is an operating company (now a subsidiary of Siemens Healthineers) that develops and manufactures X-ray tubes and related medical systems. The assignments recorded (Reel 017550/0775 and 021669/0848) reflect the initial inventor-to-company assignment and a subsequent internal merger, not transfers to a non-practicing entity.

For verification, you can search the USPTO Assignment Center at https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/.

Generated 5/29/2026, 8:40:05 PM