Assignment history

Inventors

The named inventors for US Patent 8,166,892 are James W. Forbes, Marcus Thiesen, and Dave Keats. All three inventors were employed by National Steel Car Ltd. at the time of filing, as indicated by the original assignment of interest to National Steel Car Limited on January 4, 2010.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is National Steel Car Ltd.

National Steel Car Ltd. is a well-established manufacturing company whose primary line of business is the design and production of railroad freight cars. Based on their active manufacturing operations and product lines (e.g., various types of gondola, hopper, and box cars), it is highly probable that National Steel Car Ltd. ships products embodying the claims of US8166892, which relates to railroad gondola car structures and mechanisms.

Their current status is operating.

Assignment timeline

The following is a chronological list of recorded assignments for US Patent 8,166,892, based on records from the USPTO Patent Assignment Search [cite: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/#!/patent/8166892]:

• 2010-01-04 (executed) / recorded 2010-01-13 — Reel 023616/0898
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: FORBES, JAMES W.; KEATS, DAVE; THEISEN, MARCUS
  • Assignee: NATIONAL STEEL CAR LIMITED
  • Correspondent: BORDEN LADNER GERVAIS LLP, 1200 WATERFRONT CENTRE, 200 BURRARD ST, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA V7X 1T2, CANADA
  • Context: Original assignment of inventor rights to the company.
• 2010-01-08 (executed) / recorded 2010-01-20 — Reel 023640/0173
  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: NATIONAL STEEL CAR LIMITED
  • Assignee: THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA
  • Correspondent: OGILVY RENAULT LLP, SUITE 1600, 1981 MCGILL COLLEGE AVE., MONTREAL, QUEBEC H3A 3C1, CANADA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Securitization; patent pledged as collateral for a financial agreement.
• 2012-10-16 (executed) / recorded 2012-10-23 — Reel 029272/0834
  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CANADA, THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA
  • Assignee: NSCL TRUST, BY ITS TRUSTEE 2327303 ONTARIO INC.
  • Correspondent: OGILVY RENAULT LLP, SUITE 1600, 1981 MCGILL COLLEGE AVE., MONTREAL, QUEBEC H3A 3C1, CANADA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Further securitization involving the patent.
• 2017-02-23 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-02 — Reel 036830/0001
  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: NATIONAL STEEL CAR LIMITED
  • Assignee: GREYPOINT CAPITAL INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKE, CASSELS & GRAYDON LLP, 199 BAY STREET, SUITE 4000, COMMERCE COURT WEST, TORONTO, ONTARIO M5L 1A9, CANADA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Securitization; patent pledged as security.
• 2017-02-24 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-02 — Reel 036831/0001
  • Conveyance: LIEN
  • Assignor: NATIONAL STEEL CAR LIMITED
  • Assignee: GREYPOINT CAPITAL INC.
  • Correspondent: BLAKE, CASSELS & GRAYDON LLP, 199 BAY STREET, SUITE 4000, COMMERCE COURT WEST, TORONTO, ONTARIO M5L 1A9, CANADA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Establishment of a lien on the patent.
• 2017-03-14 (executed) / recorded 2017-03-02 — Reel 036834/0130
  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
  • Assignor: NSCL TRUST, BY ITS TRUSTEE 2327303 ONTARIO INC.
  • Assignee: NATIONAL STEEL CAR LIMITED
  • Correspondent: BLAKE, CASSELS & GRAYDON LLP, 199 BAY STREET, SUITE 4000, COMMERCE COURT WEST, TORONTO, ONTARIO M5L 1A9, CANADA. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of a security interest, returning full rights to National Steel Car Limited. (Note: The recording date precedes the execution date as recorded by USPTO).

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8166892
    2009 : Filed by National Steel Car Ltd
    2010 : Inventors assign to NSC Ltd
         : NSC Ltd to Bank of Nova Scotia
    2011 : Issued
    2012 : NSC Ltd to NSCL Trust
    2017 : NSC Ltd to Greypoint Capital
         : Greypoint Capital lien
         : NSCL Trust releases to NSC Ltd

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The assignees are either the original operating company (National Steel Car Limited) or financial institutions (The Bank of Nova Scotia, Export Development Canada, Greypoint Capital Inc., NSCL Trust) involved in securitization or lending, not licensing-only shell entities.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the assignees (National Steel Car Limited, The Bank of Nova Scotia, Export Development Canada, NSCL Trust, Greypoint Capital Inc.) are identified as known NPEs in public lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present.
   • OGILVY RENAULT LLP appears as the correspondent for the security agreements recorded on Reel 023640/0173 (executed 2010-01-08) and Reel 029272/0834 (executed 2012-10-16).
   • BLAKE, CASSELS & GRAYDON LLP appears as the correspondent for the security interest and lien recorded on Reel 036830/0001 (executed 2017-02-23), Reel 036831/0001 (executed 2017-02-24), and the release on Reel 036834/0130 (executed 2017-03-14).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers are primarily security agreements and their releases, spaced over several years, rather than rapid consecutive assignments through multiple entities.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The last recorded assignment activity (release back to National Steel Car Limited on 2017-03-14) is well over 6 months before the known litigation in Delaware District Court (case 1:24-cv-00594, filed in 2024).
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication that National Steel Car Limited has filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — Not present. No evidence in the assignment records or other provided context suggests that National Steel Car Limited transferred this patent to an NPE to assert on their behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently owned by National Steel Car Limited, an operating company, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

This verdict is based on the assignment timeline showing that National Steel Car Limited is the original assignee and, through a series of security agreements and subsequent releases, remains the current owner of the patent, as evidenced by the release on Reel 036834/0130 executed on 2017-03-14. National Steel Car Limited manufactures railroad cars embodying the claims and is engaged in litigation, indicating an assertion strategy by an operating company against perceived competitors (as suggested by the IPR petitioner, FreightCar America, Inc., being a competitor). [cite: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/#!/patent/8166892]