Assignment history

Inventors

• I-Lung Ho (Applied Optoelectronics Inc.)
• Stefan J. Murry (Applied Optoelectronics Inc.)
• Che-Shou (Richard) YEH (Applied Optoelectronics Inc.)

All named inventors were employed by Applied Optoelectronics Inc. at the time of filing, which is the original assignee.

Original assignee

Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI) is the entity named on the issued patent. AOI designs and manufactures fiber-optic networking products, including optical transceivers, for internet data centers, cable television (CATV), telecom, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) markets. They operate a vertically integrated manufacturing model, controlling the entire production process from semiconductor crystal growth to final optical transceiver assembly. Applied Optoelectronics Inc. is currently operating and is a publicly traded company on NASDAQ (AAOI).

Assignment timeline

• 2017-09-28 (executed) / recorded 2017-09-29 — Reel 044061/0812

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Assignee: BRANCH BANKING AND TRUST COMPANY, TEXAS
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record.
  • Context: Security interest granted by the operating company.

• 2022-11-16 (executed) / recorded 2022-11-16 — Reel 061952/0344

  • Conveyance: Release by Secured Party
  • Assignor: TRUIST BANK (FORMERLY KNOWN AS BRANCH BANKING AND TRUST COMPANY)
  • Assignee: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC., TEXAS
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record.
  • Context: Release of previous security interest.

• 2022-11-16 (executed) / recorded 2022-11-28 — Reel 062003/0523

  • Conveyance: Patent Security Agreement
  • Assignor: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Assignee: CIT NORTHBRIDGE CREDIT LLC, NEW YORK
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record.
  • Context: New security interest granted by the operating company.

• 2023-11-17 (executed) / recorded 2023-11-20 — Reel 065630/0906

  • Conveyance: Termination and Release of Security Interest in Patents
  • Assignor: CIT NORTHBRIDGE CREDIT LLC
  • Assignee: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC., TEXAS
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record.
  • Context: Release of previous security interest.

• 2012-12-05 to 2012-12-10 (executed) / recorded 2024-11-12 — Reel 069236/0614

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: HO, I-LUNG; MURRY, STEFAN J.; YEH, RICHARD
  • Assignee: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC., TEXAS
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record.
  • Context: Assignment of inventor's interest to the original assignee. This is a late recording of an initial assignment.

• 2025-07-31 (executed) / recorded 2025-08-01 — Reel 072338/0695

  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
  • Assignee: BOKF, NA D/B/A BOK FINANCIAL, COLORADO
  • Correspondent: Not specified in public record.
  • Context: New security interest granted by the operating company.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9448367B2
    2015 : Filed by Applied Optoelectronics Inc
    2016 : Issued to Applied Optoelectronics Inc
    2017 : Security interest to Branch Banking
    2022 : Release by Truist Bank (f.k.a. Branch Banking)
         : New security interest to CIT Northbridge
    2023 : Release by CIT Northbridge
    2024 : Inventors assigned interest to Applied Optoelectronics Inc
    2025 : New security interest to BOKF

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. All assignments are either to or from the original operating company, Applied Optoelectronics Inc., or involve financial institutions for security interests. There is no evidence of transfer to a licensing-only LLC.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. Applied Optoelectronics Inc. is an operating company. The financial institutions are for security interests. None of the listed assignees are known NPEs.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. Correspondent information is not available in the provided public records for any of the recorded assignments.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. The transfers primarily involve security interests, which are not indicative of cascading ownership transfers between shell entities. The only true "assignment" is a late recording of the inventors' assignment to the original assignee.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. The primary assignments are security interests or a late recording of an initial assignment from inventors. There is no evidence of a transfer specifically preceding litigation. The earliest litigation mentioned is IPR2026-00019, but the last recorded assignment (excluding the inventor's assignment from 2012) before that was the release in November 2023. The new security interest in August 2025 is also a financial transaction, not a transfer for assertion.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Applied Optoelectronics Inc. is currently an operating company. The assignments are related to security interests in the normal course of business.
7. Privateering — not present. There is no evidence of Applied Optoelectronics Inc. transferring the patent to an NPE for assertion against competitors.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion
The assignment records clearly indicate that the patent has remained with the original assignee, Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI), an operating company that designs and manufactures optical communication products. The other entries in the assignment timeline are related to standard security interest transactions with financial institutions, which is common for operating companies. The late recording of the inventors' assignment to AOI in 2024 further solidifies AOI's ownership since its initial filing. There is no evidence of transfer to a shell entity or a known NPE.

USPTO Assignment Center search page for US9448367B2: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html (search for patent number 9448367)