Assignment history

Inventors

• Adam J. G. Ellison: Employed by Corning Inc. at the time of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Corning Inc. The patent describes glass compositions and methods for fining boroalumino silicate glasses used as substrates in flat panel display devices, specifically active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs). Corning Incorporated is a global leader in specialty glass and ceramics, and has historically manufactured and continues to manufacture glass products, including display glass (e.g., Corning Incorporated Code 7059, 1737, and EAGLE 2000 glasses mentioned in the patent text). Corning Incorporated is a publicly traded, operating company.

Assignment timeline

No assignments from Corning Incorporated to another entity are recorded on the USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US8642491. The two recorded assignments are from the inventor to the original assignee, Corning Incorporated, which is standard practice.

• 2024-03-22 (executed) / recorded 2024-04-17 — Reel 041315/0504

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: ELLISON, ADAM J.G.
  • Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED
  • Correspondent: CORNING INCORPORATED, One Riverfront Plaza, Corning, NY 14831. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Inventor's assignment of interest to the original assignee.

• 2024-01-11 (executed) / recorded 2025-01-13 — Reel 041864/0833

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: ELLISON, ADAM J. G.
  • Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED
  • Correspondent: CORNING INCORPORATED, One Riverfront Plaza, Corning, NY 14831. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Inventor's assignment of interest to the original assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 8642491
    2010 : Application filed by Corning Inc
    2014 : Patent granted to Corning Inc
    2024 : Inventor Ellison assigns to Corning
    2025 : Inventor Ellison assigns to Corning

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The patent remains with Corning Incorporated, a large operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Corning Incorporated is not a known patent assertion entity (PAE) or "patent troll."
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present (in the context of transfers between different entities). The correspondent, "CORNING INCORPORATED, One Riverfront Plaza, Corning, NY 14831," is the legal department of the original operating company, consistently handling inventor assignments to the company. This is not indicative of an NPE pattern.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no multiple consecutive assignments between different entities.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The patent has not been transferred from Corning Incorporated to another entity. While the patent family has litigation, this patent itself has not been transferred in a manner suggesting pre-litigation maneuvering by a separate asserting entity.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Corning Incorporated is an active, operating company.
7. Privateering — not present. There is no indication of a transfer to an NPE for assertion on behalf of Corning.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent has not been acquired by a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent US8642491 remains assigned to the original assignee, Corning Incorporated, which is a large operating company that manufactures products embodying the claims of the patent. There are no recorded transfers to any shell entities or known patent assertion entities. The only assignments recorded are from the inventor to Corning Incorporated in 2024 and 2025 (Reel 041315/0504 and 041864/0833), which are routine internal assignments within an operating company.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US8642491