Assignment history

Inventors

• Badr M. Al-Harbi (Saudi Arabian Oil Co.)
• Amell Ali Al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian Oil Co.)
• Ali A. Al-Turki (Saudi Arabian Oil Co.)

All inventors were employed by the original assignee, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., at the time of filing. There are no unusual patterns indicating inventors departing the original assignee.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (also known as Saudi Aramco). Saudi Aramco is the world's largest oil producer and has a primary line of business in exploration, production, refining, distribution, and marketing of petroleum and natural gas. The company ships numerous products embodying the claims, specifically in the context of oil and gas exploration and production. Its current status is operating and publicly traded.

Assignment timeline

The USPTO Assignment Center (https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/) has no recorded assignments for US20180240021A1 or its granted counterpart US11087221B2 beyond the original assignment to Saudi Arabian Oil Company, which is noted on the face of the patent.

The Google Patents "Legal Events" section shows an assignment on 2017-02-20 to SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY with the context "ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: AL-HARBI, BADR M., AL-GHAMDI, Amell Ali, AL-TURKI, Ali A." This is the initial assignment from the inventors to the original assignee.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US20180240021A1
    2017 : Filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Co
    2021 : Issued to Saudi Arabian Oil Co

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer - Not present. The only recorded assignment is from the inventors to Saudi Arabian Oil Company, a large operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain - Not present. Saudi Arabian Oil Company is not a known patent asserter (NPE).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain - Not present. There is only one initial assignment from the inventors to the operating company.
4. Cascading transfers - Not present. There is only one initial assignment.
5. Pre-litigation transfer - Not present. No litigation has been identified, and no transfers beyond the initial assignment exist.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale - Not present. Saudi Arabian Oil Company is an active, publicly traded company.
7. Privateering - Not present. There is no indication of transfer to an NPE for assertion on the operating company's behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) - Not present. The patent remains with the original operating company.

Verdict

Insufficient data. There are no recorded assignments in the USPTO Assignment Center beyond the initial assignment from the inventors to the original assignee, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as shown on the patent itself. This lack of subsequent transfer means there is no evidence to suggest NPE activity or defensive aggregation.