Patent US20170193836A1

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.

Active provider: Google · gemini-2.5-flash

Ownership chain (7)

Asserters network →

Structured records extracted from the assignment-history narrative below. Each entity links to its full ownership-network profile.

2017-12-19 · Merger
Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.
merger
2018-04-26 · Assignment of Assignors Interest
SMITH, HILDON, FORD, TERRANCE T.Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.
internal reorg
2018-11-14 · Security Agreement
CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
securitization
2018-11-19 · Security Agreement
CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.Citibank, N.A.
securitization
2024-03-22 · Security Interest
CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
securitization
2024-03-22 · Release
CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH CENGAGE LEARNING, INC., CENGAGE LEARNING HOLDCO, INC.
2024-03-22 · Release
Citibank, N.A.CENGAGE LEARNING, INC., CENGAGE LEARNING HOLDCO, INC.

Assignment history

✓ Generated

Inventors

Hildon Smith: Advanced Instructional Systems Inc.
Terrance T. Ford: Advanced Instructional Systems Inc.

No unusual patterns, such as inventors departing the original assignee within 12 months of filing, are determinable from the provided information.

Original assignee

The original assignee, Advanced Instructional Systems Inc., appears to be the entity named on the patent application publication US20170193836A1. The primary line of business for Advanced Instructional Systems Inc. is associated with online homework grading systems, as indicated by the mention of "WebAssign" (Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.; Raleigh, N.C.) in the patent's background.

As of the current date (2026-05-30), Advanced Instructional Systems Inc. has been acquired by Cengage Learning Inc., as evidenced by the assignment record on 2017-12-19.

Assignment timeline

2017-01-06 (filed)
- Conveyance: Application filed
- Assignor: N/A
- Assignee: Advanced Instructional Systems Inc
- Correspondent: N/A
- Context: Original filing of the patent application.
2017-12-19 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Merger
- Assignor: Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.
- Assignee: CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Transfer due to merger.
2018-04-26 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
- Assignor: SMITH, HILDON, FORD, TERRANCE T.
- Assignee: ADVANCED INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS, INC.
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Inventors assigning their interest to the original assignee.
2018-11-14 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Security Agreement
- Assignor: CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.
- Assignee: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Patent used as collateral for a security agreement.
2018-11-19 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Security Agreement
- Assignor: CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.
- Assignee: CITIBANK, N.A.
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Patent used as collateral for a security agreement.
2024-03-22 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Security Interest
- Assignor: CENGAGE LEARNING, INC.
- Assignee: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Patent used as collateral for a security agreement.
2024-03-22 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Release of Security Interests (TERM)
- Assignor: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
- Assignee: CENGAGE LEARNING, INC., CENGAGE LEARNING HOLDCO, INC.
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Release of prior security interest.
2024-03-22 (executed) / recorded N/A (Google Patents does not show a recording date for this specific event) — Reel N/A (Google Patents does not show reel/frame for this specific event)
- Conveyance: Release of Patent Security Interests (ABL)
- Assignor: CITIBANK, N.A.
- Assignee: CENGAGE LEARNING, INC., CENGAGE LEARNING HOLDCO, INC.
- Correspondent: N/A.
- Context: Release of prior security interest.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US20170193836A1
    2017 : Filed by Advanced Instructional Systems
         : Assigned to Cengage Learning Inc. (Merger)
    2018 : Inventors assign to Advanced Instructional Systems
         : Security agreement with Credit Suisse
         : Security agreement with Citibank
    2024 : Security agreement with Morgan Stanley
         : Release of security by Credit Suisse
         : Release of security by Citibank

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The transfers involve operating companies (Advanced Instructional Systems Inc., Cengage Learning Inc.) and financial institutions for security interests, not shell licensing entities.
Known asserter in the chain — Not present. None of the assignees (Advanced Instructional Systems Inc., Cengage Learning Inc., Credit Suisse, Citibank, Morgan Stanley) are identified as known patent asserters or NPEs in public lists.
Repeat correspondent across the chain — Unclear. The Google Patents legal events do not consistently provide correspondent information (attorney name, firm, address) for all recorded events, making it difficult to assess recurrence.
Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are multiple security agreements and releases, these are related to financing activities and not consecutive assignments of ownership through chained LLCs. The primary ownership transfer (merger) occurred as a single event.
Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. There is no litigation found involving this patent, so a pre-litigation transfer cannot be identified.
Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. The transfers are due to a merger and security agreements, not a bankruptcy proceeding.
Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence from the assignment records or other available information to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to an NPE for assertion on its behalf.
Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The chain does not terminate at any known defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion

The assignment timeline indicates a clear ownership chain from the original operating company, Advanced Instructional Systems Inc., to Cengage Learning Inc. through a merger (2017-12-19). Subsequent transfers are financial security agreements and releases, consistent with an operating company managing its assets, not indicative of NPE activity. Cengage Learning Inc. is a known educational content and technology company that would likely utilize such a patent in its core business.

USPTO Assignment Center Search Page: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/

Generated 5/30/2026, 6:44:35 PM