Assignment history

Inventors

• Ming-Te Wei (United Microelectronics Corp)
• Wen-Chen Wu (United Microelectronics Corp)
• Lung-En Kuo (United Microelectronics Corp)
• Po-Chao Tsao (United Microelectronics Corp)

There are no unusual patterns indicating inventors departing within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent US9093473B2 is United Microelectronics Corp (UMC). UMC is a major semiconductor foundry, providing manufacturing services for integrated circuits. They ship a wide variety of semiconductor products embodying many different claims. UMC is currently an operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2010-07-08 (executed) / recorded 2014-07-15 — Reel 033309/0116
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: KUO, LUNG-EN, TSAO, PO-CHAO, WEI, MING-TE, WU, WEN-CHEN (all inventors)
  • Assignee: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP., TAIWAN
  • Correspondent: N/A (Not listed on record)
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to employer.
• 2021-06-18 (executed) / recorded 2021-07-26 — Reel 056991/0292
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION
  • Assignee: MARLIN SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED, IRELAND
  • Correspondent: LEE & HAYES, P.C., 601 W RIVERSIDE AVE SUITE 1400, SPOKANE, WA 99201
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9093473
    2010 : Inventors to United Microelectronics
    2014 : Application filed
    2015 : Patent granted
    2021 : Assigned to Marlin Semiconductor

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — present. On 2021-07-26 (recorded), the patent was assigned from United Microelectronics Corporation, an operating company, to Marlin Semiconductor Limited, a company incorporated in Ireland. The name "Marlin Semiconductor Limited" suggests a licensing-focused entity, and its incorporation in Ireland (often associated with favorable tax structures for intellectual property) further supports this. Without product information for Marlin Semiconductor Limited, it is highly indicative of a shell entity for patent monetization.
2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. While Marlin Semiconductor Limited is the current assignee, it is not immediately recognizable as a widely known NPE from standard public lists like Acacia Research Corp, Marathon Patent Group, or Intellectual Ventures without further investigation. However, its characteristics align with typical NPE behavior.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. The correspondent for the 2021-07-26 assignment to Marlin Semiconductor Limited is LEE & HAYES, P.C. This correspondent does not appear in earlier records for this patent. Without a broader dataset of other tracked patents, it's not possible to definitively flag this as a repeat correspondent for NPE activity.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are only two recorded assignments, and they are spaced several years apart (2010 to 2021), not indicating cascading transfers within a short period.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. The current patent information shows litigation events starting in 2025 (IPR filed 2025-06-10, US cases filed in 2025). The assignment to Marlin Semiconductor Limited occurred on 2021-07-26. This is more than 6 months before the first known litigation filing, so it is not a "pre-litigation transfer" as strictly defined for this signal.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. The original assignee, United Microelectronics Corp, is still an active operating company.
7. Privateering — unclear. There is no public information or SEC filing data available in the patent record to suggest a privateering arrangement between United Microelectronics Corp and Marlin Semiconductor Limited.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain ends with Marlin Semiconductor Limited, which does not appear to be a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The transfer from United Microelectronics Corp, a prominent operating semiconductor foundry, to Marlin Semiconductor Limited, an entity incorporated in Ireland, is a strong signal of a shell-entity transfer for patent assertion. This, coupled with the lack of apparent product lines for the assignee and the subsequent filing of litigation in 2025 (as shown in the legal status section of the patent), indicates a high likelihood of NPE activity.

USPTO Assignment Center search page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/