Assignment history

Inventors

• Dieter Suess: Employer not explicitly stated in the patent text at the time of filing (2009-11-17). The patent lists "Individual" as the original assignee and "Dieter Suess" as the inventor.

Original assignee

The original assignee, as listed on Google Patents, is "Individual". It was subsequently assigned to "Mr Technologies GmbH". The patent details are related to "Multilayer exchange spring recording media," suggesting a focus on magnetic recording technologies. Without further information, it's unclear if "Individual" (Dieter Suess) shipped a product directly. MR Technologies GmbH is listed as the "Current Assignee" and has an "Active" legal status for the patent.

Assignment timeline

• 2022-06-13 (executed) / recorded 2022-06-13 — Reel 060183/0234
  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST
  • Assignor: SUESS, DIETER
  • Assignee: MR TECHNOLOGIES, GMBH, AUSTRIA
  • Correspondent: DUGGAN, ANTHONY G., 1770 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, SUITE 243, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, 02140
  • Context: Transfer-to-asserter (from individual inventor to a GmbH)

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 9928864
    2009 : Filed by Individual Inventor
    2018 : Granted
    2022 : Assigned to MR Technologies GmbH

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Present. The transfer from "Individual" (Dieter Suess) to "MR TECHNOLOGIES, GMBH, AUSTRIA" could be considered a shell-entity transfer, as "MR Technologies GmbH" is not clearly an operating company, especially given its business is patent assertion. The "GmbH" suffix indicates a limited liability company, and the address provided for the correspondent (a legal firm) doesn't indicate a physical product-shipping location.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Present. Unified Patents litigation data directly links "MR TECHNOLOGIES, GMBH" to multiple litigation cases in various US District Courts (Minnesota, Texas Western, California Central), as well as a PTAB case. This is a strong indicator of an NPE.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. Anthony G. Duggan of 1770 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 243, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02140 is listed as the correspondent for the 2022-06-13 assignment. This is the only assignment record available for this patent, so there is no recurrence across this chain to observe.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. There is only one recorded assignment in the chain.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Unclear. The assignment was recorded on 2022-06-13. The earliest listed litigation on Google Patents related to this family is "US case filed in Texas Western District Court," 6:22-cv-00612, which would have been filed in 2022. It is difficult to confirm the exact filing date of the litigation from the provided text to verify if it falls within 6 months of the assignment.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. No information suggests the original assignee or inventor filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — Unclear. While the current assignee is involved in litigation, there is no explicit information from SEC filings or other public sources to confirm if this is on behalf of an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The patent is currently assigned to MR Technologies GmbH, which is actively involved in patent litigation, not defensive aggregation.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of a known asserter (MR Technologies GmbH, as indicated by multiple litigation cases per Unified Patents data) and the transfer from an individual inventor to this GmbH, which appears to be primarily involved in assertion, strongly indicate an NPE pattern. The assignment on 2022-06-13 to MR Technologies GmbH directly precedes or coincides with litigation in 2022.

Verify on USPTO Assignment Center (Search by patent number 9928864)