Patent 8320575

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

  • Gerhard Uwe Schmidt: Likely employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of the invention and priority filing (EP07019281.0, 2007-10-01). Nuance Communications Inc. acquired the patent rights from Harman Becker, resulting in Nuance being listed as the original assignee on the US patent.
  • Hans-Jörg Köpf: Likely employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of the invention and priority filing (EP07019281.0, 2007-10-01).
  • Günther Wirsching: Likely employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of the invention and priority filing (EP07019281.0, 2007-10-01).

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the issued patent is Nuance Communications Inc.. Nuance Communications Inc. was a major operating company specializing in speech recognition, natural language understanding, and artificial intelligence solutions. They shipped numerous products embodying such claims, particularly in the automotive, healthcare, and enterprise sectors. In 2022, Nuance Communications Inc. was acquired by Microsoft.

Assignment timeline

  • 2009-05-01 (executed) / recorded 2010-01-19 — Reel 023810/0001

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: HARMAN BECKER AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS GMBH
    • Assignee: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Correspondent: BARRY P. JOFFE - NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., 1 Burlington Woods Drive Burlington MA 01803
    • Context: Asset purchase agreement, transferring rights from original inventor's employer to Nuance.

  • 2019-09-30 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-23 — Reel 050836/0191

    • Conveyance: Assignment
    • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Assignee: CERENCE INC.
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Internal reorganization, transfer to a spin-off entity (Cerence).

  • 2019-09-30 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-29 — Reel 050871/0001

    • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
    • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Corrective assignment to refine the assignee name from Cerence Inc. to Cerence Operating Company.

  • 2019-10-01 (executed) / recorded 2019-11-07 — Reel 050953/0133

    • Conveyance: Security Agreement
    • Assignor: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Assignee: BARCLAYS BANK PLC
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Securitization of assets with a bank.

  • 2020-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-12 — Reel 052927/0335

    • Conveyance: Release
    • Assignor: BARCLAYS BANK PLC
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Release of security interest by Barclays Bank PLC.

  • 2020-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-15 — Reel 052935/0584

    • Conveyance: Security Agreement
    • Assignor: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Assignee: WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Securitization of assets with a new bank.

  • 2019-09-30 (executed) / recorded 2022-04-19 — Reel 059804/0186

    • Conveyance: Corrective Assignment
    • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Another corrective assignment, replacing a previous conveyance document to confirm the transfer from Nuance Communications to Cerence Operating Company.

  • 2024-12-31 (executed) / recorded 2025-01-02 — Reel 069797/0818

    • Conveyance: Release
    • Assignor: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803. This correspondent recurs multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Release of security interest by Wells Fargo Bank, National Association.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8320575
    2008 : Filed by Nuance Comm
    2010 : Assigned to Nuance Comm
    2012 : Issued to Nuance Comm
    2019 : Assigned to Cerence Inc
         : To Cerence Operating Co (Corrective)
         : Security to Barclays Bank
    2020 : Release from Barclays Bank
         : Security to Wells Fargo
    2022 : To Cerence Operating Co (Corrective)
    2025 : Release from Wells Fargo
    2026 : Infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. All assignees in the chain (Harman Becker, Nuance, Cerence Inc., Cerence Operating Company) are operating companies. The transfers primarily represent asset acquisitions, corporate spin-offs, or financial security agreements.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Nuance Communications Inc. and Cerence Operating Company are known operating companies, not listed as prominent NPEs by RPX or Unified Patents.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. The correspondent "CERENCE INC., 18 THIRD AVENUE BURLINGTON MA 01803" appears on records Reel 050836/0191, 050871/0001, 050953/0133, 052927/0335, 052935/0584, 059804/0186, and 069797/0818. This indicates consistent in-house legal handling for Cerence-related transfers and agreements.
  4. Cascading transfers — Unclear. There are multiple transfers involving Cerence Inc. and Cerence Operating Company within a short period (October 2019). However, these appear to be related to a corporate spin-off and subsequent corrective assignments to clarify the entity name, along with concurrent security agreements, rather than successive sales through different shell entities. Reel 050836/0191, Reel 050871/0001, Reel 050953/0133 all occurred within a month and a half.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The most recent assignment (release from Wells Fargo) occurred in January 2025. The first infringement suit was filed in May 2026, which is more than six months later.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication that any of the assignors were undergoing bankruptcy proceedings at the time of transfer.
  7. Privateering — Not present. Cerence Operating Company is an operating company asserting the patent itself.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate with a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion The assignment chain shows transfers between established operating companies (Harman Becker to Nuance, then Nuance to Cerence as part of a spin-off). The security agreements and releases are typical of corporate financing, and the repeated correspondent points to in-house legal handling by Cerence. Cerence Operating Company, an operating company, is the current assignee and has filed an infringement suit against Amazon.com, Inc. et al..

USPTO Assignment Center search for US8320575: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patents/8320575

Generated 5/29/2026, 9:03:35 PM