Patent 9289645

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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Ownership chain (1)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

  1. 2015-08-13 · recorded 2015-08-18 · reel 036329/0811 · Assignment of Assignors Interest

    Masterson, Brian, Savarino, Christopher J.BALANCED BODY, INC.

    Correspondent: Robert B. Kennedy · Law Office of Robert B. Kennedy

    initial assignment from inventors to the operating company

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.

✓ Generated

Inventors

  • Brian Masterson: Employee of Balanced Body Inc. at the time of filing.
  • Christopher J. Savarino: Employee of Balanced Body Inc. at the time of filing.

No unusual patterns, such as inventors departing the original assignee shortly after filing, are evident from the provided information.

Original Assignee

The original assignee named on the issued patent is Balanced Body Inc.

Balanced Body Inc. is a global leader in manufacturing Pilates equipment and providing Pilates education. They ship a wide range of products, including reformers, towers, chairs, barrels, and Cadillacs, which incorporate various patented features, such as the Signature Springs and SoftTouch rope + loop system. Their primary line of business is the design, manufacture, and sale of Pilates equipment, as well as offering instructor training and continuing education. The company was founded in 1976 and is currently operating.

Assignment Timeline

  • 2015-08-13 (executed) / recorded 2015-08-18 — Reel 036329/0811
    • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
    • Assignor: Masterson, Brian, Savarino, Christopher J.
    • Assignee: Balanced Body, Inc.
    • Correspondent: Robert B. Kennedy, Law Office of Robert B. Kennedy, 3217 Maureen Dr., Santa Clara, CA 95054.
    • Context: Initial assignment from inventors to the operating company.

The USPTO Assignment Center has no other recorded assignments for this patent number after the initial assignment from the inventors to Balanced Body Inc..

Timeline Diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9289645
    2015 : Filed by Balanced Body Inc
         : Assigned inventors to Balanced Body
    2016 : Issued to Balanced Body Inc
    2025 : First infringement suit filed

NPE / Troll-Pattern Signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent was assigned from individual inventors (Brian Masterson and Christopher J. Savarino) to Balanced Body Inc., an operating company that actively manufactures and sells Pilates equipment embodying the claims.
  2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Balanced Body Inc. is identified as a Pilates equipment manufacturer and educator, not a known Non-Practicing Entity (NPE).
  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment for this patent in the USPTO Assignment Center, so there are no recurring correspondents to observe. The correspondent for the single assignment is Robert B. Kennedy, Law Office of Robert B. Kennedy.
  4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment, indicating a direct transfer from the inventors to the operating company, without multiple consecutive transfers.
  5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. The only recorded assignment (executed 2015-08-13, recorded 2015-08-18; Reel 036329/0811) occurred before the patent's issue date (2016-03-22) and significantly before the reported litigation cases filed in 2025 in the New York Southern District Court.
  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Balanced Body Inc. is an active, operating company.
  7. Privateering — Not present. The patent is owned by an operating company (Balanced Body Inc.) and not transferred to an NPE for assertion on its behalf.
  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently owned by Balanced Body Inc., an operating company, and has not been transferred to a defensive aggregator like RPX, AST, LOT Network, Unified Patents, or Open Invention Network.

Verdict

Insufficient data

Justification: While the patent has been involved in litigation as noted in the initial information (two cases in New York Southern District Court in 2025), the USPTO Assignment Center only records the initial assignment from the inventors to the operating company, Balanced Body Inc.. There are no subsequent assignments that would indicate a transfer to an NPE or exhibit any other troll-pattern signals. Therefore, based on the available assignment records, there is insufficient data to confidently classify the patent as an NPE asset.

USPTO Assignment Center search for 9289645: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patents/9289645

Generated 5/29/2026, 5:56:43 PM