Patent 9060561

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

The sole named inventor for US patent 9060561 is Robert T. Knight. His employer at the time of filing is not explicitly stated in the patent text.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Brainguard Technologies Inc.
Based on the patent's focus on "Biomechanics aware helmet" and "protective gear," it is implied they aimed to ship products embodying the claims, likely helmets or similar protective equipment. Their current operating status (operating, acquired, dissolved, in bankruptcy) is not explicitly stated in the provided patent text, and further research would be needed to determine this.

Assignment timeline

As of May 19, 2026, a search of the USPTO Assignment Center for patent US9060561 (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html) reveals no recorded assignments subsequent to its issuance. This indicates that Brainguard Technologies Inc. remains the current assignee of record.

Brainguard Technologies Inc. has developed prototype helmets for various sports (bicycling, baseball, football, hockey, snow sports) and aims to bring them to market, with availability potentially as early as fall 2021. Their mission is to "enable exceptional helmet performance that protects the brain" by designing "smart helmet systems" that don't add extra weight and protect against traumatic brain injury, particularly rotational shear forces. The company holds multiple US and foreign patents related to their multi-layered helmet design.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9060561
    2011 : Priority Date
    2014 : Application filed by Brainguard Technologies Inc
    2015 : Patent granted to Brainguard Technologies Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The patent remains with the original assignee, Brainguard Technologies Inc., which appears to be an operating company developing helmet technology.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Brainguard Technologies Inc. is not identified as a known NPE.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. There are no recorded assignments for this patent, so no correspondent chain to analyze.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no recorded assignments.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While the patent is involved in litigation, there are no recorded assignments to analyze in relation to the litigation filing dates. The district court case 8:24-cv-02652 was filed in California Central District Court, and a related case, BRAINGUARD TECHNOLOGIES, INC. v. REVELYST SALES LLC (3:26-mc-80147), was filed in the California Northern District Court on May 8, 2026.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of Brainguard Technologies Inc. being in bankruptcy.
  7. Privateering — not present. There is no evidence to suggest privateering.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is not assigned to a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While Brainguard Technologies Inc. appears to be an operating company developing products, the absence of any recorded assignment history in the USPTO Assignment Center makes it impossible to fully reconstruct the ownership chain or definitively rule out all NPE patterns. The patent is currently active and associated with ongoing litigation, but without assignment records, a comprehensive assessment of NPE/troll patterns is not feasible. The recent lawsuit, BRAINGUARD TECHNOLOGIES, INC. v. REVELYST SALES LLC (3:26-mc-80147), filed on May 8, 2026, indicates that Brainguard Technologies Inc. is actively asserting its patent rights.

Verification: USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US9060561.

Generated 5/19/2026, 6:24:41 PM