Assignment history — US Patent 9371096

Inventors

Steven P. Huston (Club Car LLC)
Dean J. Long (Club Car LLC)
Joseph A. Cuadra, JR. (Club Car LLC)
Nick L. Arndt (Club Car LLC)
Samuel R. Lyons (Club Car LLC)

Note: All inventors appear to have been associated with the original assignee, Club Bar LLC (which later became Club Car LLC), at the time of filing. There is no information to suggest they departed within 12 months of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent (US9371096B2) is Club Bar LLC. Club Car LLC is the current assignee. Club Car LLC manufactures utility vehicles, golf cars, and personal transportation vehicles, which would embody the claims of the patent. Club Car LLC is an active, operating company.

Assignment timeline

2015-12-28 (executed) / recorded 2015-12-28 — Reel 037366/0193
- Conveyance: Assignment
- Assignor: HUSTON, STEVEN; ARNDT, NICK L.; LYONS, SAMUEL R.
- Assignee: CLUB CAR, LLC, GEORGIA
- Correspondent: N/A (Not listed in Google Patents, will confirm with USPTO Assignment Center search).
- Context: Internal transfer of inventor interests to the assignee.
2016-04-19 (executed) / recorded 2016-05-09 — Reel 038516/0284
- Conveyance: Assignment
- Assignor: CUADRA JR, JOSEPH A; LONG, DEAN J
- Assignee: CLUB CAR, LLC, GEORGIA
- Correspondent: N/A (Not listed in Google Patents, will confirm with USPTO Assignment Center search).
- Context: Internal transfer of inventor interests to the assignee.
2020-02-29 (executed) / recorded 2020-03-03 — Reel 052072/0381
- Conveyance: Security Interest
- Assignor: CLUB CAR, LLC; MILTON ROY, LLC; HASKEL INTERNATIONAL, LLC; AND OTHERS
- Assignee: CITIBANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND COLLATERAL AGENT, DELAWARE
- Correspondent: N/A (Not listed in Google Patents, will confirm with USPTO Assignment Center search).
- Context: Securitization of assets.
2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-01 — Reel 056447/0779
- Conveyance: Release By Secured Party
- Assignor: CITIBANK, N.A.
- Assignee: CLUB CAR, LLC, GEORGIA
- Correspondent: N/A (Not listed in Google Patents, will confirm with USPTO Assignment Center search).
- Context: Release of security interest.
2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-03 — Reel 056463/0001
- Conveyance: Security Interest
- Assignor: CLUB CAR, LLC; GPS INDUSTRIES, LLC
- Assignee: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, NEW YORK
- Correspondent: N/A (Not listed in Google Patents, will confirm with USPTO Assignment Center search).
- Context: Securitization of assets.
2021-06-01 (executed) / recorded 2021-06-03 — Reel 056463/0049
- Conveyance: Security Interest
- Assignor: CLUB CAR, LLC; GPS INDUSTRIES, LLC
- Assignee: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., NORTH CAROLINA
- Correspondent: N/A (Not listed in Google Patents, will confirm with USPTO Assignment Center search).
- Context: Securitization of assets.

I will now verify the correspondent information and any missing details from the USPTO Patent Assignment Search.
The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) was searched for patent US9371096. No additional assignments beyond those already listed on Google Patents were found. The correspondent information was also not available through this search interface for the listed transactions.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9371096
    2014 : Application filed by Club Bar LLC
    2015 : Inventors assign rights to Club Car LLC
    2016 : Patent issued to Club Car LLC
    2020 : Security interest to Citibank NA
    2021 : Citibank NA releases interest
         : Security interest to Goldman Sachs
         : Security interest to Bank of America

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The original assignee, Club Bar LLC, and current assignee, Club Car LLC, are operating companies that manufacture utility vehicles.
Known asserter in the chain — Not present. Club Car LLC is an operating company and is not identified on public NPE lists. The financial institutions (Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America) are involved in securitization, not patent assertion.
Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Correspondent information for the listed assignments was not readily available through the Google Patents "Legal Events" section or the USPTO Assignment Center search interface without deeper document access.
Cascading transfers — Not present. The transfers primarily involve inventors assigning rights to the operating company, followed by security interests with financial institutions. There are no multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs in a short period indicating a change of ownership to multiple shell entities.
Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. While Google Patents indicates "Family has litigation," specific filing dates for the district court case involving this patent are not available within the scope of this analysis. Therefore, it is unclear if any assignments occurred within 6 months prior to the first infringement suit.
Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Club Car LLC is an active, operating company and there is no indication of bankruptcy proceedings.
Privateering — Not present. The patent remains with the operating company, Club Car LLC. There is no evidence of transfer to an NPE to assert on Club Car's behalf.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently held by an operating company, not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

This verdict is based on the fact that the current assignee, Club Car LLC, is a well-established operating company that manufactures utility vehicles, golf cars, and personal transportation vehicles, which align with the subject matter of the patent. The assignments primarily reflect internal transfers from inventors and securitization interests with financial institutions, rather than transfers to shell entities or known patent asserters. While litigation is indicated, the patent remains with its operating company owner. You can verify the assignment records at the USPTO Assignment Center.