Assignment history

Inventors

The sole named inventor for US Patent 9,251,531 is Shaunt M. Sarkissian. At the time of filing, Shaunt M. Sarkissian was the inventor and subsequently assigned his interest to Cortex MCP Inc., which is also listed as the original assignee. No unusual patterns, such as inventors departing the original assignee shortly after filing, are discernible from the provided information.

Original assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Cortex MCP Inc.

Based on available information, Cortex MCP Inc. does not appear to primarily ship products embodying the claims of the patent. Instead, it is widely identified as a patent assertion entity (PAE) or Non-Practicing Entity (NPE), with its primary line of business centered on patent licensing and enforcement. The company's current status, as evidenced by ongoing litigation, is operating as a patent assertion entity.

Assignment timeline

• 2013-03-08 (executed) / recorded 2014-07-11 — Reel 030067/0014
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: SARKISSIAN, SHAUNT M.
  • Assignee: CORTEX MCP, INC.
  • Correspondent: ROBERT E. SHARKE, DENTONS US LLP, P.O. BOX 1304, CHICAGO, IL 60690.
  • Context: Inventor assigned patent rights to the original corporate assignee.

No further assignment records for US9251531 were found on the USPTO Patent Assignment Search beyond the initial assignment from the inventor to Cortex MCP, Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9251531
    2013 : Inventor assigned to Cortex MCP Inc
    2016 : Issued to Cortex MCP Inc
    2023 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The only recorded assignment is from the inventor to Cortex MCP, Inc., the original corporate assignee. While Cortex MCP, Inc. itself operates as a patent assertion entity, there is no record of the patent being transferred from an operating company to a separate licensing-only shell LLC.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Cortex MCP Inc., the current owner of the patent (as assignee on 2014-07-11, Reel 030067/0014), is identified as a patent assertion entity by Unified Patents and RPX Corporation. It is also the plaintiff in the district court litigation involving this patent.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. Only one assignment is recorded for this patent, from the inventor to Cortex MCP, Inc. Thus, there is no recurrence of a correspondent across the chain. The correspondent for this single assignment was ROBERT E. SHARKE of DENTONS US LLP (Reel 030067/0014).
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment in the chain.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The assignment from the inventor to Cortex MCP, Inc. was recorded on July 11, 2014 (Reel 030067/0014). The first infringement suit, Cortex MCP, Inc. v. Visa, Inc., was filed on January 26, 2023, approximately nine years after the assignment.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. There is no indication in the patent record or associated litigation context that the patent was acquired through bankruptcy proceedings.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While Cortex MCP, Inc. is an NPE, there is no public information indicating that an operating company transferred this patent to Cortex MCP, Inc. to assert on its behalf against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent remains under the ownership of Cortex MCP, Inc., a known patent asserter, and has not been acquired by a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence

The verdict of NPE with high confidence is driven by the fact that Cortex MCP Inc., the sole corporate assignee (via assignment recorded 2014-07-11, Reel 030067/0014), is widely recognized by industry monitors like Unified Patents and RPX Corporation as a patent assertion entity. Furthermore, Cortex MCP Inc. is actively asserting this patent in litigation against Visa, Inc., as detailed in the litigation history provided.

(For verification, see USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US9251531: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html)