Assignment history

Inventors

The named inventors for US Patent 7480631 are Angel Merced, Timothy A. Webb, SueAnne Senz, Chakravarthi S. Bathula, Lou Ann Hoffman, Anthony E. Rita, and Kevin D. Buckner. At the time of filing, these inventors were likely employed by Bank One, Delaware, National Association, or a related entity within the JPMorgan Chase corporate family, given that Bank One was the initial corporate assignee on the filing date. There are no unusual patterns indicating a mass departure of inventors within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the patent application was JPMorgan Chase Bank NA. However, the initial recorded assignment of the inventors' interests was to BANK ONE, DELAWARE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION. Bank One, Delaware, National Association subsequently merged into Chase Manhattan Bank USA, National Association, and then was assigned to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. is a major operating financial institution offering a wide range of banking and financial services, including credit cards and related fraud detection and prevention systems, which directly embody the claims of this patent. The company is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2004-12-14 (executed) / recorded 2004-12-15 — Reel 015890/0879

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: BATHULA, CHAKRAVARTHI S.; BUCKNER, KEVIN D.; HOFFMAN, LOU ANN; MERCED, ANGEL; RITA, ANTHONY E.; SENZ, SUE ANNE; WEBB, TIMOTHY A.
  • Assignee: BANK ONE, DELAWARE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
  • Correspondent: BRINKS HOFER GILSON & LIONE P.O. BOX 10395 CHICAGO IL 60610
  • Context: Inventor assignment to a corporate entity.

• 2008-10-27 (executed) / recorded 2008-10-28 — Reel 022000/0129

  • Conveyance: MERGER
  • Assignor: BANK ONE, DELAWARE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
  • Assignee: CHASE MANHATTAN BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
  • Correspondent: Not explicitly listed on record, typical for merger documents.
  • Context: Corporate merger between related financial institutions.

• 2008-11-03 (executed) / recorded 2008-11-03 — Reel 022005/0517

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: CHASE MANHATTAN BANK USA, N.A.
  • Assignee: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
  • Correspondent: WARD, DAVID M. JPMORGAN CHASE BANK N.A. MAIL CODE 2-1081 270 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK NY 10017. This correspondent is a corporate counsel for JPMorgan Chase.
  • Context: Internal reorganization and assignment to the ultimate parent entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7480631
    2004 : Inventors to Bank One Delaware
    2008 : Bank One merged to Chase Manhattan
         : Chase Manhattan to JPMorgan Chase
    2009 : Patent issued
    2027 : Patent expires

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. All assignees in the chain (Bank One, Delaware, National Association; Chase Manhattan Bank USA, National Association; and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.) are established operating financial institutions, not shell entities formed for licensing. Their recorded addresses are corporate locations.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the assignees listed in the chain (Bank One, Chase Manhattan, JPMorgan Chase) are identified as known NPEs or high-frequency plaintiffs on public lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. The correspondent for the initial inventor assignment (Reel 015890/0879) was BRINKS HOFER GILSON & LIONE. The merger document (Reel 022000/0129) did not explicitly list an attorney correspondent. The final assignment (Reel 022005/0517) listed David M. Ward, corporate counsel for JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. There is no recurrence of the same attorney or firm across multiple distinct assignment links in this chain.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are two transfers in close proximity in late 2008 (a merger executed 2008-10-27 and an assignment executed 2008-11-03), these are internal corporate reorganizations between clearly related operating entities (within the JPMorgan Chase family) rather than consecutive transfers through unrelated chained LLCs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The last recorded assignment was in November 2008, and the patent issued in January 2009. The provided litigation summary did not identify any specific infringement lawsuits naming US7480631.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. is a large, operating financial institution and has not undergone bankruptcy proceedings that would necessitate a patent portfolio sale.

7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence from the assignment records or the provided context to suggest that JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. transferred this patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf against competitors. The patent remains with the operating company.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently held by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., which is an operating company, not a defensive aggregator like RPX or AST.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. The patent's ownership chain clearly shows it has remained within the JPMorgan Chase corporate family since its inception, moving from the inventors to Bank One, then through a merger to Chase Manhattan, and finally to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. is a major operating company whose core business of providing credit cards and financial services directly embodies the "System and method for detecting and processing fraud and credit abuse" described in the patent. There are no signals of NPE involvement, shell entities, or other troll-like patterns in the assignment history.

Verification link: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/