Assignment history

Inventors

• Kouichi Anno
• Takumi Sato
• Masahiro Teramoto

The original assignees were Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co Ltd and Japan Display Inc. It is highly probable the inventors were employees of one of these entities at the time of the invention. There are no unusual patterns indicated in their employment history relative to the filing date.

Original assignee

The original assignees named on the patent are Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Co Ltd and Japan Display Inc.

Both are major global manufacturers of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and related components for a wide variety of consumer and industrial electronics. As operating companies, they designed, manufactured, and sold display products that would embody the technologies described in the patent, including display panels with integrated touch input capabilities. Both companies remain active in the display technology market.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Patent Assignment Database for US9507477 reveals the following recorded ownership changes.

• 2023-09-01 (executed) / recorded 2023-11-20 — Reel 067562/0644

  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: PANASONIC LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY CO., LTD.
  • Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
  • Correspondent: ERIK B. WULFF, DLA PIPER LLP (US), 2000 UNIVERSITY AVE, EAST PALO ALTO, CA 94303
  • Context: Internal transfer of intellectual property from a specific business unit to a central IP holding company within the Panasonic corporate family.

• 2024-04-18 (executed) / recorded 2024-05-01 — Reel 068691/0001

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignor's Interest
  • Assignor: JAPAN DISPLAY INC., and PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
  • Assignee: PANELTOUCH TECHNOLOGIES LLC
  • Correspondent: MATTHEW R. FUPPOS, FUPPOS LAW, PO BOX 132, SPRINGBORO, OH 45066
  • Context: Transfer from the original creators/assignees to a third-party limited liability company, likely for the purpose of monetization and assertion.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9507477
    2010 : Priority date
    2016 : Issued to Panasonic and Japan Display
    2023 : Assigned to Panasonic IP Corp (internal)
    2024 : Assigned to PanelTouch Technologies LLC
    2025 : First infringement suit filed in E.D. Texas
         : PTAB challenge filed by Unified Patents

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present.
   The patent was transferred from its original operating-company owners (Panasonic, Japan Display) to PanelTouch Technologies LLC on April 18, 2024 (Reel 068691/0001). The assignee name follows a common pattern for licensing entities, and there is no public evidence of PanelTouch Technologies LLC developing or selling products.

2. Known asserter in the chain — Present.
   While PanelTouch Technologies LLC is a relatively new entity, its litigation activity immediately following the patent acquisition establishes it as an asserter. The patent is subject to litigation in the Eastern District of Texas (2:25-cv-00245) and a PTAB challenge (IPR2025-01483) initiated by Unified Patents, a well-known anti-NPE organization that challenges patents asserted by licensing entities.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Not present.
   The two assignments on record have different correspondents. The first was handled by a major international law firm (DLA Piper) for an internal transfer. The second, to the asserting entity, was handled by a smaller firm, Fuppos Law. While not a recurring correspondent within this specific chain, tracking the correspondent on the transfer-to-asserter (Matthew R. Fuppos) across other patent campaigns would be a relevant next step for wider pattern analysis.

4. Cascading transfers — Not present.
   The chain of ownership is straightforward: from the original assignees to the current asserting entity, with one intermediate internal transfer. There is no evidence of rapid, sequential transfers through multiple shell LLCs.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — Present.
   The assignment to PanelTouch Technologies LLC was executed on April 18, 2024. Litigation was subsequently filed in early 2025 (per case number 2:25-cv-00245), well within a year of the transfer, indicating the acquisition was made with the intent to litigate.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present.
   The assignors, Panasonic and Japan Display, are solvent, operating companies. This was not a sale out of bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — Unclear.
   This is a transfer from operating companies to an NPE that is now asserting the patent. It fits the general definition of privateering, but proving a formal agreement where Panasonic and Japan Display share in the assertion revenue would require evidence not available in the public record.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present.
   The chain terminates at an asserting entity. The involvement of Unified Patents is adversarial (as a petitioner challenging the patent), not as an owner.

Verdict

• NPE — high confidence

The evidence strongly supports an NPE assertion model. The patent was transferred from the original product-making companies (Panasonic, Japan Display) to a newly-formed LLC with no apparent products (Reel 068691/0001). This entity, PanelTouch Technologies LLC, quickly began asserting the patent in a jurisdiction favored by patent plaintiffs (E.D. Texas), which in turn prompted a validity challenge from the anti-NPE organization Unified Patents. This sequence of a transfer followed by litigation is a classic indicator of an NPE campaign.

Verification link: USPTO Assignment Search for US9507477