Assignment history

Inventors

• John Fraser Wright (Genzyme Corp)
• Guang Qu (Genzyme Corp)

It is not determinable from the patent text whether the inventors departed the original assignee within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

Genzyme Corp. was the original assignee listed on the issued patent. Genzyme Corp. was a biotechnology company that developed and manufactured products, including those related to gene therapy, which could embody the claims of US7704721. Genzyme Corp. was acquired by Sanofi in 2011 and now operates as Sanofi Genzyme, a division of Sanofi.

Assignment timeline

• 2005-11-02 (executed) / recorded 2005-11-10 — Reel 016738/0925

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: Genzyme Corporation
  • Assignee: AVIGEN, INC.
  • Correspondent: AVIGEN, INC., GARY M. HOFFMAN, 1301 HARBOR BAY PARKWAY, ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES 94502
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights from original applicant to a new entity.

• 2016-10-06 (executed) / recorded 2016-10-14 — Reel 038590/0400

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: AVIGEN, INC.
  • Assignee: GENZYME CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: BETH D. MCMULLEN, SANOFFI U.S. SERVICES INC., 500 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE, CAMBRIDGE, MA UNITED STATES 02142. This correspondent appears to represent the Sanofi group of companies.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights back to Genzyme Corporation (likely a re-assignment within the Sanofi corporate structure after the acquisition of Genzyme).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7704721
    2005 : Filed by Genzyme Corp
         : Assigned to Avigen Inc
    2010 : Issued
    2016 : Assigned to Genzyme Corp

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While Avigen, Inc. (the initial assignee) was a biotechnology company, the subsequent re-assignment to Genzyme Corp. (part of Sanofi) makes it unclear if Avigen, Inc. operated solely as a licensing entity for this patent during its ownership. However, the subsequent re-assignment back to Genzyme suggests a non-NPE context.

2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the listed assignees (Genzyme Corporation, AVIGEN, INC.) are identified as known NPEs in public lists.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The correspondent for the first assignment was AVIGEN, INC. with Gary M. Hoffman. The correspondent for the second assignment was Beth D. McMullen for Sanofi U.S. Services Inc. These are distinct.

4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two assignments recorded, with a significant time gap between them.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. There is no indication of litigation immediately following either of the recorded assignments. The Google Patents legal events section indicates PTAB and District Court litigation starting in 2024, long after the last assignment in 2016.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no evidence of either Genzyme Corp. or Avigen, Inc. undergoing a bankruptcy fire-sale related to these assignments.

7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information in the assignment records or legal events that explicitly indicates privateering.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The ownership chain shows Genzyme Corporation as the original applicant, followed by an assignment to Avigen, Inc., and then a re-assignment back to Genzyme Corporation (within the Sanofi corporate structure) prior to the identified litigation events. Both Genzyme and Avigen were operating companies in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical space. There are no strong signals of shell entities, known NPEs, or rapid, cascading transfers typical of patent assertion entities.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US7704721: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/