Assignment history

Inventors

• Simon Burgess: Co-founder of Scuf Gaming (the brand commercializing the patented controller technology).
• Duncan Ironmonger: Co-founder of Scuf Gaming.

Both inventors were principals of the original assignee at the time of filing, which is a typical arrangement for a founder-led company.

Original assignee

Ironburg Inventions Ltd. is the original assignee. It is the intellectual property holding company for Scuf Gaming, a company founded by the inventors that designs and sells high-performance and customized gaming controllers that embody the patented technology. In 2020, Scuf Gaming (including Ironburg Inventions Ltd.) was acquired by Corsair Gaming, Inc., a publicly-traded computer peripherals and hardware company. Ironburg Inventions Ltd. remains an active entity and continues to enforce its patent portfolio.

Assignment timeline

2015-06-11 (executed) / recorded 2015-06-11 — Reel 035661/0457

• Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
• Assignor: Simon Burgess; Duncan Ironmonger
• Assignee: Ironburg Inventions Ltd.
• Correspondent: Joseph M. Noto, The Webb Law Firm, One Gateway Center, 420 Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Suite 1200, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
• Context: Routine assignment from inventors to their company.

2016-12-09 (executed) / recorded 2017-02-13 — Reel 040984/0270

• Conveyance: Security Agreement
• Assignor: Ironburg Inventions Limited
• Assignee: Triangle Capital Corporation
• Correspondent: Michael G. Verga, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, 301 S. College Street, 23rd Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202
• Context: The patent was pledged as collateral to secure financing from Triangle Capital Corporation, a business development company.

2020-01-13 (executed) / recorded 2020-01-30 — Reel 051012/0329

• Conveyance: Release of Security Interest
• Assignor: BSP Agency, LLC (as Collateral Agent for Triangle Capital Corporation)
• Assignee: Ironburg Inventions Limited
• Correspondent: D. Scott Parish, GCA Law Partners LLP, 1900 University Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
• Context: The security interest was released, and full title reverted to Ironburg Inventions, likely in connection with its acquisition by Corsair Gaming, which was announced in December 2019 and closed in early 2020.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9352229
    2013 : Priority applications filed
    2015 : Patent application filed
         : Assigned to Ironburg Inventions
    2016 : Patent issued
         : Pledged as collateral to Triangle Capital
    2020 : Security interest released
         : Ironburg acquired by Corsair Gaming

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not Present. Ironburg Inventions Ltd. is the IP holding entity for Scuf Gaming, which was and remains an operating company that manufactures and sells products embodying the patented technology.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Ironburg Inventions Ltd. has engaged in significant patent litigation to enforce this patent family, most notably against Valve Corporation. While it is the IP arm of an operating company (Scuf/Corsair), its assertive litigation strategy is a notable signal.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not Present. The correspondents are from different law firms and are associated with distinct, logical phases of the patent's history: initial prosecution, a financing event, and a corporate transaction.

4. Cascading transfers — Not Present. The chain of title is straightforward, with only a temporary security interest recorded between the original assignment and its release.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not Present. The patent was assigned by the inventors to their company at the time of filing in June 2015. The first major lawsuit against Valve was filed in November 2015. This transfer was a standard part of business formation, not a maneuver immediately preceding litigation.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not Present.

7. Privateering — Not Present. The assertion is being carried out by the original entity that developed and commercialized the technology, not a third-party NPE acting on its behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not Present.

Verdict

• Operating-company assertion

Justification: The patent was developed by the founders of Scuf Gaming and assigned to their IP holding company, Ironburg Inventions Ltd. Scuf Gaming commercialized the patented technology in its popular line of high-performance controllers. The subsequent litigation is a direct enforcement action by the technology's originator against a competitor, which is a classic example of an operating company asserting its intellectual property. The assignment history reflects standard business operations (initial assignment, securing financing, and release of collateral upon acquisition) rather than a transfer for the purpose of non-practicing assertion. The full assignment history can be viewed at the USPTO Patent Assignment Search.