Assignment history

Inventors

• Kozo Masuda (Hitachi Ltd)
• Ikuya Arai (Hitachi Ltd)
• Masaaki Miyano (Hitachi Ltd)

All inventors were employed by Hitachi Ltd, the original assignee, at the time of filing. There are no unusual patterns indicating immediate departure of inventors.

Original assignee

Hitachi Ltd.
Hitachi Ltd. is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate producing a wide range of products including electronics, machinery, and industrial solutions. They would have shipped numerous products embodying video processing technologies as claimed in the patent.
Current Status: Operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2006-12-20 (executed) / recorded 2007-02-01 — Reel 019256/0313
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: MIYANO, MASAAKI; ARAI, IKUYA; MASUDA, KOZO
  • Assignee: HITACHI, LTD.
  • Correspondent: ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP, 1300 NORTH 17TH STREET, SUITE 1800, ARLINGTON, VA 22209.
  • Context: Assignment from inventors to original corporate assignee.
• 2014-08-25 (executed) / recorded 2014-09-08 — Reel 032997/0229
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: HITACHI, LTD.
  • Assignee: HITACHI MAXELL, LTD.
  • Correspondent: ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP, 1300 NORTH 17TH STREET, SUITE 1800, ARLINGTON, VA 22209. (This correspondent recurs in this chain.)
  • Context: Internal corporate transfer between related operating entities.
• 2018-01-19 (executed) / recorded 2018-01-25 — Reel 041838/0566
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: HITACHI MAXELL, LTD.
  • Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
  • Correspondent: KOBAYASHI, TAKASHI, C/O ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP, 1300 NORTH 17TH STREET, SUITE 1800, ARLINGTON, VA 22209. (This firm recurs in this chain.)
  • Context: Corporate name change/reorganization (Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. changed its name to Maxell, Ltd. in 2017).
• 2021-11-25 (executed) / recorded 2021-11-29 — Reel 054817/0001
  • Conveyance: Merger
  • Assignor: MAXELL, LTD.
  • Assignee: MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD.
  • Correspondent: HAHN, KENT, MAXELL, LTD., 3333 PEACHTREE ROAD NE, SUITE 400, ATLANTA, GA 30326.
  • Context: Corporate merger where Maxell, Ltd. merged into Maxell Holdings, Ltd.
• 2021-12-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-12-03 — Reel 054823/0001
  • Conveyance: Change of Name
  • Assignor: MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD.
  • Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
  • Correspondent: HAHN, KENT, MAXELL, LTD., 3333 PEACHTREE ROAD NE, SUITE 400, ATLANTA, GA 30326. (This correspondent recurs in this chain.)
  • Context: Corporate name change where Maxell Holdings, Ltd. changed its name to Maxell, Ltd.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7952645
    2006 : Inventors assign to Hitachi
    2011 : Issued
    2014 : Assigned to Hitachi Maxell
    2018 : Assigned to Maxell Ltd
    2021 : Maxell merged into Maxell Holdings
         : Maxell Holdings changes name to Maxell

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The assignees in the chain (Hitachi Ltd, Hitachi Maxell Ltd, Maxell Ltd, Maxell Holdings Ltd) are all known operating companies.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the assignees (Hitachi Ltd, Hitachi Maxell Ltd, Maxell Ltd, Maxell Holdings Ltd) are listed on public NPE lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP appears on the first two assignments (Reel 019256/0313, Reel 032997/0229) and the firm (c/o Kobayashi, Takashi) on the third (Reel 041838/0566). Kent Hahn appears on the fourth and fifth entries (Reel 054817/0001, Reel 054823/0001). This consistency suggests corporate management of the portfolio rather than disjointed shell entity transfers.
4. Cascading transfers — Unclear. While there were two transfers in quick succession in 2021 (Nov 29 and Dec 3), these were explicitly recorded as a Merger and a Change of Name (Reel 054817/0001, Reel 054823/0001), indicating an internal corporate reorganization rather than a "cascading transfer" to multiple distinct shell entities.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. There is no indication of transfers immediately preceding litigation. The patent shows litigation activity starting in 2021-11, after the initial corporate assignments and preceding the specific merger/name change events.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no evidence of any assignee in the chain undergoing bankruptcy proceedings leading to a patent sale.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence from SEC filings or other sources indicating this patent was transferred to an NPE to assert on behalf of an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion
The assignment chain demonstrates internal corporate transfers, mergers, and name changes involving well-known operating companies: Hitachi, Hitachi Maxell, and Maxell, Ltd. The current assignee, Maxell, Ltd., is a manufacturer and developer of consumer and industrial products, suggesting that any assertion would likely be by an operating company against direct competitors. The consistent correspondent law firm in the initial transfers also supports this.
USPTO Assignment Center Search for US7952645