Patent 8076194

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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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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Inventors

The named inventors for US Patent 8076194 are:

  • Chu-Yin Tseng
  • Shih-Chieh Hsu
  • Chih-Chiang Wu
  • Shyh-Fann Ting
  • Po-Lun Cheng
  • Hsuan-Hsu Chen

All inventors were employed by United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) at the time of filing, as UMC is listed as the original assignee. There is no information to suggest any unusual patterns of inventor departures within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee on the issued patent was United Microelectronics Corp (UMC). UMC is a major Taiwanese semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for other companies, thus shipping products embodying the claims. UMC is currently an active, operating company.

Assignment timeline

  • 2007-06-28 (executed) / recorded 2010-05-18 — Reel 024398/0400

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: CHEN, HSUAN-HSU; CHENG, PO-LUN; HSU, SHIH-CHIEH; TING, SHYH-FANN; TSENG, CHU-YIN; WU, CHIH-CHIANG (the inventors)
    • Assignee: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP.
    • Correspondent: NO CORRESPONDENT DATA
    • Context: Initial assignment of patent rights from inventors to their employer.

  • 2021-06-18 (executed) / recorded 2021-07-26 — Reel 056991/0292

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    • Assignee: MARLIN SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED
    • Correspondent: WONG, WEN-HSIANG, WEN HSIANG WONG, 19 F-1, NO. 77, SEC. 2, DUNHUA S. RD., DAAN DIST., TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN, (R.O.C.)
    • Context: Transfer of patent rights from an operating company to a patent monetization entity.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8076194
    2010 : Filed by United Microelectronics Corp
    2011 : Issued
    2021 : Assigned to Marlin Semiconductor Ltd
    2025 : First litigation filed by Marlin

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The patent was transferred from United Microelectronics Corporation to Marlin Semiconductor Limited (Reel 056991/0292). Marlin Semiconductor Limited is a subsidiary of IPValue Management, a known patent monetization firm, and is engaged in licensing-only activities, confirming its nature as a shell entity for assertion.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Marlin Semiconductor Limited, the current assignee per Reel 056991/0292, is a known patent assertion entity (NPE), identified as a subsidiary of IPValue Management. It is actively asserting this patent family in various legal proceedings, including ITC Investigation 337-TA-1443 and companion District Court cases.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The only assignment with correspondent data (Reel 056991/0292) lists WONG, WEN-HSIANG of WEN HSIANG WONG. Without access to a broader database of assignments handled by this correspondent or their involvement in other NPE activities, it is not possible to confirm a pattern of recurrence across this chain or within a known NPE portfolio based solely on the provided data.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There have only been two assignments in the chain, one from the inventors to the original assignee and one from the original assignee to the current assignee. This does not represent multiple consecutive transfers through chained LLCs in a short period.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment to Marlin Semiconductor Limited was executed on 2021-06-18 and recorded on 2021-07-26 (Reel 056991/0292). The earliest known litigation activity related to this patent by Marlin Semiconductor Limited commenced in early 2025 (e.g., ITC complaint filed February 18, 2025), which is well over six months after the transfer.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) is an active, operating company, and the transfer to Marlin Semiconductor Limited was not part of bankruptcy proceedings.
  7. Privateering — Present. The patent was transferred from United Microelectronics Corporation (an operating company) to Marlin Semiconductor Limited (a known NPE). Marlin Semiconductor is now asserting this patent, which was part of a portfolio acquired from UMC. This arrangement allows an operating company to monetize its patents through an NPE, potentially against competitors, without directly engaging in litigation itself.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The current assignee, Marlin Semiconductor Limited, is a patent assertion entity, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The patent was transferred from the operating company United Microelectronics Corporation to Marlin Semiconductor Limited on 2021-06-18 (Reel 056991/0292). Marlin Semiconductor Limited is a known patent assertion entity and a subsidiary of IPValue Management, which constitutes a shell-entity transfer and involves a known asserter. This pattern, coupled with Marlin Semiconductor's active litigation of patents acquired from UMC, strongly indicates an NPE assertion strategy consistent with privateering.

USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US8076194

Generated 5/27/2026, 6:45:47 PM