Patent 9203972

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

  • Gerhard Uwe Schmidt: Likely employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of the priority filing (October 1, 2007), as Harman Becker was the original assignor of the patent rights to Nuance Communications Inc. for this invention.
  • Hans-Jörg Köpf: Likely employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of the priority filing.
  • Günther Wirsching: Likely employed by Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH at the time of the priority filing.

Original assignee

The original assignee listed on the issued U.S. Patent No. 9,203,972 is Nuance Communications Inc. Nuance was primarily a software company specializing in speech recognition, natural language understanding, and artificial intelligence, with products like Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The claims of this patent, relating to efficient audio signal processing for noise and echo reduction in sub-band regimes, align with Nuance's core business in voice recognition and hands-free communication systems. Nuance Communications Inc. was acquired by Microsoft in 2022 and continues to operate as a part of Microsoft.

Assignment timeline

  • 2009-05-01 (executed) / recorded 2012-09-19 — Reel 029006/0044

    • Conveyance: ASSET PURCHASE AGREEMENT
    • Assignor: HARMAN BECKER AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS GMBH
    • Assignee: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Correspondent: WILLIAM S. BOTWICK; WOLFF & SAMSON PC; ONE BOLAND DRIVE; WEST ORANGE, NJ 07052
    • Context: Acquisition of intellectual property assets by Nuance Communications, Inc.

  • 2019-09-30 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-23 — Reel 050836/0191

    • Conveyance: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AGREEMENT
    • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Assignee: CERENCE INC.
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC.; C/O KILPATRICK TOWNSEND & STOCKTON LLP; 1100 PEACHTREE STREET, SUITE 2800; ATLANTA, GA 30309. This correspondent appears multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Transfer of intellectual property during the corporate spin-off of Cerence Inc. from Nuance Communications, Inc.

  • 2019-09-30 (executed) / recorded 2019-10-29 — Reel 050871/0001

    • Conveyance: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC.; C/O KILPATRICK TOWNSEND & STOCKTON LLP; 1100 PEACHTREE STREET, SUITE 2800; ATLANTA, GA 30309. This correspondent appears multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Corrective assignment to properly reflect the assignee entity following the spin-off.

  • 2019-10-01 (executed) / recorded 2019-11-07 — Reel 050953/0133

    • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
    • Assignor: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Assignee: BARCLAYS BANK PLC
    • Correspondent: BARCLAYS BANK PLC; C/O BRYAN CAVE LEIGHTON PAISNER LLP; 1290 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS; NEW YORK, NY 10104-3300. This correspondent appears multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Patent used as collateral for a loan provided by Barclays Bank PLC.

  • 2020-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-12 — Reel 052927/0335

    • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY
    • Assignor: BARCLAYS BANK PLC
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: BARCLAYS BANK PLC; C/O BRYAN CAVE LEIGHTON PAISNER LLP; 1290 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS; NEW YORK, NY 10104-3300. This correspondent appears multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Release of the security interest by Barclays Bank PLC.

  • 2020-06-12 (executed) / recorded 2020-06-15 — Reel 052935/0584

    • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
    • Assignor: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Assignee: WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
    • Correspondent: PATRICK B. FANNON; WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION; D1053-066; 301 S. TRYON STREET; CHARLOTTE, NC 28288
    • Context: Patent used as collateral for a new loan provided by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

  • 2019-09-30 (executed) / recorded 2022-04-19 — Reel 059804/0186

    • Conveyance: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT
    • Assignor: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: CERENCE INC.; C/O KILPATRICK TOWNSEND & STOCKTON LLP; 1100 PEACHTREE STREET, SUITE 2800; ATLANTA, GA 30309. This correspondent appears multiple times in this chain.
    • Context: Another corrective assignment, likely to further clarify or rectify ownership records related to the Cerence spin-off.

  • 2024-12-31 (executed) / recorded 2025-01-02 — Reel 069797/0818

    • Conveyance: RELEASE
    • Assignor: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
    • Assignee: CERENCE OPERATING COMPANY
    • Correspondent: JOHN R. BENNETT, JR.; ADAMS AND REESE LLP; 701 POYDRAS STREET, SUITE 4500; NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130-6098
    • Context: Release of the security interest by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9203972
    2008 : Priority from Harman Becker
    2009 : IP acquired by Nuance
    2012 : Application filed by Nuance
    2015 : Patent granted
    2019 : IP to Cerence Inc
         : Corrected to Cerence Operating Co
         : Security agreement Barclays
    2020 : Barclays releases security
         : Security agreement Wells Fargo
    2022 : Corrective assign to Cerence Ops
    2025 : Wells Fargo releases security

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. All identified assignees (Harman Becker Automotive Systems GMBH, Nuance Communications Inc., Cerence Inc., Cerence Operating Company, Barclays Bank PLC, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) are established operating companies or financial institutions. There is no evidence of transfer to a licensing-only shell entity. [cite: Reel 050836/0191, Reel 050871/0001]
  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees in the record (Harman Becker, Nuance, Cerence, Barclays, Wells Fargo) are identified as known patent asserters or NPEs by industry watchlists.
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. "CERENCE INC.; C/O KILPATRICK TOWNSEND & STOCKTON LLP" is listed as correspondent for the assignments to Cerence Inc. and Cerence Operating Company on reels 050836/0191, 050871/0001, and 059804/0186. "BARCLAYS BANK PLC; C/O BRYAN CAVE LEIGHTON PAISNER LLP" is listed for Barclays' security agreement and release on reels 050953/0133 and 052927/0335. This indicates consistent legal representation, which is common for operating companies managing their IP and financial transactions.
  4. Cascading transfers — not present. The primary transfers of ownership (Harman Becker to Nuance, Nuance to Cerence) are separated by several years. The closely spaced corrective assignments (Reel 050836/0191, Reel 050871/0001) are part of a single corporate spin-off event, and the security agreements/releases (Reel 050953/0133, Reel 052927/0335, Reel 052935/0584, Reel 069797/0818) represent financing activities, not sequential transfers of ownership.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. There are no public records of litigation involving US 9,203,972.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. The initial transfer was an asset purchase [cite: Reel 029006/0044]. Nuance was acquired by Microsoft, and Cerence remains an active operating company.
  7. Privateering — unclear. There is no publicly available information to suggest privateering behavior by any entity in the chain. Both Nuance and Cerence are operating companies.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by Cerence Operating Company, which is not a known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion
The ownership chain for US Patent 9,203,972 clearly shows transfers between established operating companies and financial institutions involved in corporate transactions (acquisition, spin-off, and financing). There are no indications of shell entities, known patent asserters, or other typical NPE patterns. The patent remains with an operating company, Cerence Operating Company, whose products align with the patent's technology.

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

Generated 5/29/2026, 9:03:38 PM