Assignment history

Inventors

The named inventors on US Patent 9002795 are Daniel Edward Messinger, Wilson M. Fish, Sami Iren, and Erik Riedel. All inventors were employed by Seagate Technology LLC at the time of filing, as evidenced by the initial assignment of their interests to Seagate Technology LLC. The assignment document dated March 20, 2006, also includes Stuart J. Brodsky, John B. Worden, and Qiong Zhang as assignors, indicating their contribution to the invention disclosure. There is no unusual pattern of inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, as the assignment to Seagate occurred shortly after the application was filed.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Seagate Technology LLC. Seagate Technology LLC is a major operating company in the data storage industry, known for manufacturing hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and storage systems. They ship numerous products embodying the claims related to object-based data storage and management. Seagate Technology LLC is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

The following is a chronological list of recorded assignments for US Patent 9002795:

• 2006-03-20 (executed) / recorded 2006-04-03 — Reel 017702/0253
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: RIEDEL, ERIK, BRODSKY, STUART J., FISH, WILSON M., MESSINGER, DANIEL EDWARD, WORDEN, JOHN B., ZHANG, QIONG, IREN, SAMI
  • Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
  • Correspondent: MARK A. KLUSCH, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC, 920 DISC DRIVE, SCOTTS VALLEY, CA 95066.
  • Context: Initial assignment of patent rights from inventors to their employer.
• 2009-05-08 (executed) / recorded 2009-05-15 — Reel 023026/0200
  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: MAXTOR CORPORATION, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
  • Assignee: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND FIRST PRIORITY REPRESENTATIVE, WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND SECOND PRIORITY REPRESENTATIVE
  • Correspondent: KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN LLP, 575 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights as collateral for a financing agreement.
• 2011-01-14 (executed) / recorded 2011-01-19 — Reel 026040/0173
  • Conveyance: RELEASE
  • Assignor: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
  • Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY HDD HOLDINGS, MAXTOR CORPORATION, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
  • Correspondent: KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN LLP, 575 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of previously granted security interest.
• 2011-03-18 (executed) / recorded 2011-03-24 — Reel 026227/0460
  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
  • Assignee: THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
  • Correspondent: KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, 601 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Transfer of patent rights as collateral for a new financing agreement.
• 2013-07-16 (executed) / recorded 2013-07-19 — Reel 029961/0681
  • Conveyance: TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS
  • Assignor: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND SECOND PRIORITY REPRESENTATIVE
  • Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC, EVAULT INC. (F/K/A I365 INC.), SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY US HOLDINGS, INC.
  • Correspondent: KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN LLP, 575 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of previously granted security interest.
• 2025-07-18 (executed) / recorded 2025-07-23 — Reel 043810/0111
  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
  • Assignor: THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA
  • Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC, SEAGATE HDD CAYMAN, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY HDD HOLDINGS, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY, I365 INC., SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY (US) HOLDINGS, INC., SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
  • Correspondent: KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, 601 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of previously granted security interest.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9002795
    2006 : Filed by Seagate LLC
         : Assigned inventors to Seagate
    2009 : Security agreement (JPMorgan)
    2011 : Release (JPMorgan)
         : Security agreement (Bank of Nova Scotia)
    2013 : Release (Wells Fargo)
    2015 : Patent issued
    2025 : Release (Bank of Nova Scotia)

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The assignees involved are Seagate Technology LLC (an operating company) and financial institutions acting as secured parties. None appear to be shell entities for licensing only.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. No known Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) or patent asserters are identified in the assignment chain.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN LLP appears as the correspondent on Reel 023026/0200, Reel 026040/0173, and Reel 029961/0681. KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP appears on Reel 026227/0460 and Reel 043810/0111. These firms consistently represent the parties in the security agreements and releases.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. The transfers are primarily security agreements and their subsequent releases, indicating financing activities rather than a series of ownership transfers through multiple LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. There is no known litigation involving US9002795.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Seagate Technology LLC remains an active operating company. The appearance of Maxtor Corporation is consistent with its acquisition by Seagate.
7. Privateering — not present. The patent remains with Seagate, an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The assignment chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The assignment history clearly shows that US Patent 9002795 has consistently remained under the ownership of Seagate Technology LLC, an operating company that manufactures products embodying the claimed invention. The intervening assignments are security agreements and releases related to corporate financing (Reel 023026/0200, Reel 026040/0173, Reel 026227/0460, Reel 029961/0681, Reel 043810/0111), which are common for large corporations. There is no evidence of transfer to any known NPE or shell entity.

For verification, refer to the USPTO Assignment Center search for US Patent 9002795: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/