Patent 8306815

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

  • Lars König (Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH)
  • Gerhard Uwe Schmidt (Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH)
  • Andreas Löw (Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH)

(Note: While the original assignee was Nuance Communications Inc., the inventors were employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of filing, as indicated by the assignment records where they assigned their interest to Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH on the same date.)

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the patent is Nuance Communications Inc. Nuance Communications Inc. was a major provider of speech recognition and imaging software. They shipped various products embodying the claims, particularly in automotive speech recognition systems. As of 2026, Nuance Communications Inc. has been acquired by Microsoft, with the transaction closing in March 2022.

Assignment timeline

  • 2007-12-06 (executed) / recorded 2008-04-24 — Reel 020613/0285

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Lars König
    • Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    • Correspondent: Robert A. Schaef, Harman International Industries, Incorporated, 2000 Research Drive, Stamford, CT, 06901, US.
    • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to their employer.

  • 2007-12-06 (executed) / recorded 2008-04-24 — Reel 020613/0286

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Gerhard Uwe Schmidt
    • Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    • Correspondent: Robert A. Schaef, Harman International Industries, Incorporated, 2000 Research Drive, Stamford, CT, 06901, US. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to their employer.

  • 2007-12-06 (executed) / recorded 2008-04-24 — Reel 020613/0287

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Andreas Löw
    • Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    • Correspondent: Robert A. Schaef, Harman International Industries, Incorporated, 2000 Research Drive, Stamford, CT, 06901, US. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to their employer.

  • 2010-01-19 (executed) / recorded 2010-02-18 — Reel 024040/0173

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    • Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    • Correspondent: Patrick F. O'Reilly, JR., c/o Nuance Communications, Inc., 1 Wayside Road, Burlington, MA, 01803, US.
    • Context: Transfer of patent rights as part of an asset purchase agreement.

  • 2019-10-23 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-23 — Reel 050836/0191

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    • Assignee: Cerence Inc.
    • Correspondent: David D. Lesh, Lempia Summerfield & Katz, LLC, One North LaSalle Street, Suite 2900, Chicago, IL, 60602, US.
    • Context: Transfer of intellectual property as part of an intellectual property agreement.

  • 2019-10-29 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-29 — Reel 050860/0677

    • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
    • Assignor: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    • Assignee: Cerence Operating Company
    • Correspondent: David D. Lesh, Lempia Summerfield & Katz, LLC, One North LaSalle Street, Suite 2900, Chicago, IL, 60602, US. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Corrective assignment to update the assignee name.

  • 2019-11-07 (executed) / recorded 2019-11-07 — Reel 050901/0571

    • Conveyance: Security Agreement
    • Assignor: Cerence Operating Company
    • Assignee: Barclays Bank PLC
    • Correspondent: Jennifer S. Blum, Esq., Goodwin Procter LLP, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY, 10018, US.
    • Context: Securitization of assets.

  • 2020-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-12 — Reel 051648/0225

    • Conveyance: Release by Secured Party
    • Assignor: Barclays Bank PLC
    • Assignee: Cerence Operating Company
    • Correspondent: Jennifer S. Blum, Goodwin Procter LLP, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY, 10018, US. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Release of security interest.

  • 2020-06-15 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-15 — Reel 051670/0410

    • Conveyance: Security Agreement
    • Assignor: Cerence Operating Company
    • Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    • Correspondent: Jennifer S. Blum, Goodwin Procter LLP, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY, 10018, US. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Securitization of assets.

  • 2022-04-19 (executed) / recorded 2022-04-19 — Reel 053074/0231

    • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
    • Assignor: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    • Assignee: Cerence Operating Company
    • Correspondent: David D. Lesh, Lempia Summerfield & Katz, LLC, One North LaSalle Street, Suite 2900, Chicago, IL, 60602, US. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
    • Context: Corrective assignment to replace a previous conveyance document.

  • 2025-01-02 (executed) / recorded 2025-01-02 — Reel 057037/0746

    • Conveyance: Release
    • Assignor: Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
    • Assignee: Cerence Operating Company
    • Correspondent: Kevin M. O'Brien, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, One Wells Fargo Center, 301 South College Street, Suite 3500, Charlotte, NC, 28202, US.
    • Context: Release of security interest.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8306815
    2007 : Inventors assign to Harman Becker
    2010 : Assigned to Nuance Comm Inc
    2012 : Issued
    2019 : Assigned to Cerence Inc
         : Corrective to Cerence Operating Co
         : Security agreement to Barclays
    2020 : Release by Barclays
         : Security agreement to Wells Fargo
    2022 : Corrective from Nuance to Cerence
    2025 : Release by Wells Fargo

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. All identified assignees (Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH, Nuance Communications Inc., Cerence Inc., Cerence Operating Company) are operating companies in the automotive or speech technology sectors.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH, Nuance Communications Inc., Cerence Inc., Cerence Operating Company) are listed as known NPEs or high-frequency plaintiffs in public databases like RPX or Unified Patents.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Robert A. Schaef (Harman International Industries, Incorporated) appears on reels 020613/0285, 020613/0286, and 020613/0287. David D. Lesh (Lempia Summerfield & Katz, LLC) appears on reels 050836/0191, 050860/0677, and 053074/0231. Jennifer S. Blum (Goodwin Procter LLP) appears on reels 050901/0571, 051648/0225, and 051670/0410. The recurrence of these correspondents across multiple related assignments, especially with Cerence, is noted.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. The transfers involve corporate acquisitions or internal re-organizations, not rapid transfers through multiple shell LLCs.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. No litigation is publicly known for this patent, so this signal cannot be assessed.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of any assignee entering bankruptcy proceedings leading to a patent sale.
  7. Privateering — not present. There is no evidence from SEC filings or other public reports suggesting a privateering arrangement.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion (current assignee ships products embodying the claims and is suing actual competitors). The assignment history shows transfers between established operating companies (Harman Becker, Nuance, Cerence) in the speech technology and automotive sectors. Cerence Operating Company, the current assignee, is a direct successor to Nuance's automotive division and develops products embodying speech dialog systems.

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

Generated 5/29/2026, 9:04:10 PM