Assignment history

Inventors

• Giampiero De luca (employed by Laboratoires Serono S.A. or related entity at time of filing)
• Arnaud Ythier (employed by Laboratoires Serono S.A. or related entity at time of filing)
• Alain Munafo (employed by Laboratoires Serono S.A. or related entity at time of filing)
• Maria Lopez-Bresnahan (employed by Laboratoires Serono S.A. or related entity at time of filing)

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Merck Serono SA. Merck Serono SA is the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The company manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products, including cladribine (known commercially as Mavenclad) for multiple sclerosis, which embodies the claims of the patent. Merck Serono SA is an operating company and is currently active.

Assignment timeline

• 2005-12-07 (executed) / recorded 2007-08-13 — Reel 020084/0924
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: LUCA, GIAMPIERO DE
  • Assignee: LABORATORIES SERONO S.A.
  • Correspondent: LAB. SERONO S.A.
  • Context: Inventor assigned their interest in the patent application to the company.
• 2009-07-06 (executed) / recorded 2009-07-24 — Reel 023000/0862
  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: LABORATOIRES SERONO S.A.
  • Assignee: MERCK SERONO SA
  • Correspondent: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF LLP (300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 3200, CHICAGO, IL 60606). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Corporate name change from Laboratoires Serono S.A. to Merck Serono SA.
• 2009-11-20 (executed) / recorded 2009-12-03 — Reel 023604/0846
  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: LABORATOIRES SERONO SA
  • Assignee: MERCK SERONO SA
  • Correspondent: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF LLP (300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 3200, CHICAGO, IL 60606). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Additional corporate name change filing for Laboratoires Serono SA to Merck Serono SA.
• 2009-06-25 (executed) / recorded 2010-03-15 — Reel 024095/0838
  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: LOPEZ-BRESNAHAN, MARIA; YTHIER, ARNAUD; MUNAFO, ALAIN
  • Assignee: MERCK SERONO SA
  • Correspondent: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF LLP (300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 3200, CHICAGO, IL 60606). This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Remaining inventors assigned their interest in the patent application to the company.
• 2023-01-26 (executed) / recorded 2023-02-06 — Reel 054593/0422
  • Conveyance: Change of Address
  • Assignor: MERCK SERONO SA
  • Assignee: MERCK SERONO SA
  • Correspondent: SANOFI (ONE SANOFI DRIVE, SWIFTWATER, PA 18370)
  • Context: Update of Merck Serono SA's official address on record with the USPTO.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7713947
    2005 : Filed by Merck Serono SA
         : Inventor Luca assigns to Serono
    2009 : Serono name change to Merck Serono
         : Inventor Lopez-Bresnahan et al assign
    2023 : Merck Serono SA address change

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. All assignees in the chain (Laboratoires Serono S.A. and Merck Serono SA) are operating companies.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Merck Serono SA is an operating pharmaceutical company and not identified as a known NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP appears as the correspondent on recordings 023000/0862 (2009-07-24), 023604/0846 (2009-12-03), and 024095/0838 (2010-03-15).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Transfers are spaced over several years and primarily relate to corporate name changes and inventor assignments, not rapid successive transfers between distinct entities.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The last actual transfer of ownership (from inventors to company) was recorded in 2010 (Reel 024095/0838). Recent litigation against the patent family (starting 2022-2024, per Google Patents) is not preceded by a transfer of the patent itself. A change of address was recorded in 2023, but this does not constitute a transfer of ownership.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The current and past assignees are operating companies, and there is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings related to the patent's transfer.
7. Privateering — Unclear. There is no public information in the patent record or Google Patents to suggest a privateering arrangement.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently assigned to an operating pharmaceutical company.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

This patent is currently owned by Merck Serono SA, a major pharmaceutical operating company that manufactures products embodying the claims (cladribine for multiple sclerosis). The assignment records show a clear chain of ownership from the individual inventors to the operating company, primarily involving corporate name changes and direct inventor assignments (Reel 020084/0924, Reel 023000/0862, Reel 023604/0846, Reel 024095/0838). Active litigation involving this patent family (as indicated by Google Patents) further suggests assertion by the operating company against competitors, rather than an NPE.

For verification, see the USPTO Assignment Center search for patent US7713947: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/