Assignment history

Inventors

• Yasuhiro Torisawa
• Kaoru Abe
• Yasuaki Muguruma
• Shigekazu Fujita
• Hidenori Ogawa
• Naoto Utsumi
• Masahiro Miyake

All inventors were employed by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. at the time of filing, as evidenced by the assignment to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. recorded on August 13, 2009. There are no unusual patterns indicating a mass departure of inventors preceding a portfolio transfer.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. They produce and market pharmaceutical products, including Jynarque® (tolvaptan), which embodies the claims of this patent as an intermediate for its production. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is an active, operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2006-08-01 (executed) / recorded 2009-08-13 — Reel 023023/0488
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT
  • Assignor: OGAWA, HIDENORI; UTSUMI, NAOTO; TORISAWA, YASUHIRO; FUJITA, SHIGEKAZU; ABE, KAORU; MIYAKE, MASAHIRO; MUGURUMA, YASUAKI (all inventors)
  • Assignee: OTSUKA PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.
  • Correspondent: BROWDY AND NEIMARK, PLLC, 1625 K Street N.W., Suite 1000, Washington, DC, 20006.
  • Context: Initial assignment from inventors to the corporate entity.

The USPTO Assignment Center has no other recorded post-issuance assignments for US Patent 8,273,735.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8273735
    2006 : Inventors assigned to Otsuka
    2009 : Assignment recorded
    2012 : Patent issued to Otsuka
    2019 : First litigation filed
    2026 : Active litigation ongoing

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent remains with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a publicly known operating pharmaceutical company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is the original and current assignee and is an operating company, not identified as a known NPE. They are actively litigating the patent themselves.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. Only one assignment from the inventors to the original assignee is recorded (Reel 023023/0488). There is no pattern of recurrence to observe for this patent's chain.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. Only one assignment transaction is recorded, from the inventors to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Reel 023023/0488).
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The sole recorded assignment (Reel 023023/0488) was executed on 2006-08-01 and recorded on 2009-08-13, long before the first reported litigation concerning this patent (around 2019).
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is an active, operating company and has not undergone bankruptcy proceedings that resulted in the sale of this patent.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is asserting the patent, there is no public information or SEC filings available to confirm or deny a privateering arrangement where an NPE asserts on their behalf. Otsuka appears to be directly asserting the patent.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is held and asserted by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., an operating company, rather than being acquired by a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion. The patent US8273735 has been consistently owned by the original assignee, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., since its inception (Reel 023023/0488). Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is an operating pharmaceutical company that manufactures and sells products related to the claimed invention, specifically the vasopressin antagonist tolvaptan, and is actively asserting this patent in litigation to protect its commercial interests.

https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html