Patent 9516909

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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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

  • Robert T. Knight (Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley, and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at UC San Francisco).

Original assignee

The original assignee named on US9516909B2 is Brainguard Technologies Inc. Brainguard Technologies Inc. (also referred to as BrainGuard LLC) is an operating company focused on designing multi-layered helmets to protect against rotational shear forces, a major contributor to traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). They have developed prototype helmets for various sports (bicycling, baseball, football, hockey, snow sports) and industrial safety. As of March 2020, their helmets were not yet available for purchase, with talks ongoing for potential partnerships, and testing by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment slated to begin in Spring 2020. Their products are currently being developed, focusing on smart helmet systems that detect biking, helmet usage, and proper wear. Brainguard Technologies Inc. appears to be an active, operating company, with ongoing development and patents.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) shows no recorded assignments for US Patent 9516909. This means that Brainguard Technologies Inc. remains the current assignee of record.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9516909
    2011 : Priority Date
    2016 : Filed by Brainguard Technologies Inc
    2016 : Issued to Brainguard Technologies Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

  1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. There are no recorded transfers for this patent. Brainguard Technologies Inc. appears to be an operating company developing helmet technology.

  2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. There are no recorded transfers, so no known asserters are in the chain. Brainguard Technologies Inc. is the original and current assignee.

  3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. No assignment chain exists.

  4. Cascading transfers — not present. No assignment chain exists.

  5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. No assignment transfers are recorded, and the current litigation appears to be initiated by the original assignee, Brainguard Technologies, Inc.

  6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication of Brainguard Technologies Inc. being in bankruptcy.

  7. Privateering — unclear. There is no explicit evidence of privateering, but it cannot be definitively ruled out without further information on any agreements between Brainguard Technologies Inc. and other entities.

  8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by Brainguard Technologies Inc., which is actively involved in litigation, indicating an assertive rather than defensive posture.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The patent US9516909 remains assigned to the original assignee, Brainguard Technologies Inc., with no recorded transfers in the USPTO Assignment Center. Brainguard Technologies Inc. is an operating company engaged in developing and commercializing helmet technology designed to prevent brain injuries. They are also actively asserting this patent in district court litigation against alleged infringers.

USPTO Assignment Center search for US9516909: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html?pno=US9516909B2

Generated 5/19/2026, 6:21:15 PM