Assignment history

Inventors

• John Fraser Wright (Genzyme Corp)
• Guang Qu (Genzyme Corp)

Original assignee

The original assignee on US9051542 is Genzyme Corp. Genzyme Corp was an American biotechnology company that developed and marketed various pharmaceutical products, including treatments for lysosomal storage diseases (e.g., Cerezyme, Fabrazyme), renal disease (Renagel), orthopedics, transplant and immune diseases, oncology, genetics, and diagnostics.

Genzyme Corp was acquired by Sanofi in 2011 and operated as a fully-owned subsidiary until February 2022, when its brand was integrated into Sanofi. Sanofi Genzyme continues to focus on rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, immunology, and oncology, developing and advancing new therapies.

Assignment timeline

• 2016-10-06 (executed) / recorded 2016-10-06 — Reel 038477/0270

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: WRIGHT, JOHN FRASER; QU, GUANG
  • Assignee: AVIGEN INC
  • Correspondent: KENYON & KENYON LLP, ONE BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, 10004
  • Context: Reassignment of inventors' interests to Avigen Inc.

• 2016-10-06 (executed) / recorded 2016-10-06 — Reel 038477/0268

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: AVIGEN INC
  • Assignee: GENZYME CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: KENYON & KENYON LLP, ONE BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, 10004. This correspondent firm also appears in the preceding assignment.
  • Context: Reassignment of Avigen Inc.'s interest to Genzyme Corporation.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9051542
    2010 : Filed by Genzyme Corp
    2015 : Issued to Genzyme Corp
    2016 : Inventors assign to Avigen Inc
    2016 : Avigen Inc assigns to Genzyme Corp

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The assignments show transfers between the individual inventors, Avigen Inc., and Genzyme Corporation, all of which appear to be operating entities.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the listed assignees (Genzyme Corp, Avigen Inc.) appear on common NPE lists.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. KENYON & KENYON LLP appears as the correspondent for both recorded assignments on 2016-10-06 (Reel 038477/0270 and Reel 038477/0268).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. The two recorded assignments on 2016-10-06 are related to the same internal transfer of rights from the inventors back to the original assignee.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. Without litigation data for this specific patent, it's not possible to determine if any assignment occurred within 6 months of a first infringement suit.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Genzyme Corp was acquired by Sanofi, not dissolved through bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — Not present. No evidence suggests a transfer to an NPE asserting on behalf of an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain ends with Genzyme Corporation (now part of Sanofi), not a defensive aggregator like RPX, AST, LOT Network, Unified Patents, or Open Invention Network.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While the patent has expired, the available assignment records only show transfers from the inventors to Avigen Inc. and then to Genzyme Corporation. There is no evidence of subsequent transfers to shell entities or known patent asserters. Without further information on any potential assertion activities related to this patent, it is not possible to classify it as an NPE pattern. The patent appears to have remained with the operating company, Genzyme Corp (and subsequently Sanofi).

To verify, see the USPTO Assignment Center: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/ and search for patent number 9051542.