USPTOAssigneesData

Return to Patent Data Wiki Page.

The USPTO Assignees Database focuses on patent assignments, a transaction between one or more patent owners with one or more parties where ownership or interest in one or more patents is assigned or shared. The database consists of historical assignment data provided by the USPTO in XML files. Specifics on how the database are given on the USPTO Assignees Data Processing Page.

Tables

assignee

The Assignee Table gives the assignee and location of each assignee involved in an assignment. The table gives a non-standardized inventory of companies involved in assignments as well as an indication of a company's patent portfolio over time. Additionally, the Assignee Table was used to create the Assignment and Assignee Count Tables.

assigneecount

In a transaction, multiple assignees and assignors may be involved. The Assignee Count Table gives the number of assignees involved in a given assignment. The table was made using the Assignee Table and counting the number of rows per each distinct group of reel number, frame number, and recdate. The table was used to create the Party Count Table.

assignment

The Assignment Table brings the information in the Assignee, Assignor, and Patent Id Tables together in a more usable format. The most relevant properties of an assignment are included in the table.

assignmentdate

The Assignment Date Table distinguishes which USPTO XML file an assignment was stored on based on whether the assignment was included in an annual or daily release of records. Recently, the USPTO began to update its assignment records on a daily basis. For assignments that occurred earlier on, the assignment records were only updated on an annual basis.

assignor

The Assignor Table gives the assignor and location of each assignor involved in an assignment. The table gives a non-standardized inventory of companies involved in assignments as well as an indication of a company's patent portfolio over time. Additionally, the Assignor Table was used to create the Assignment and Assignor Count Tables.

assignorcount

Since multiple assignees and assignors may be involved in a patent transaction, the Assignor Count Table keeps track of the number of assignors involved in a given assignment. The table was made using the Assignor Table and counting the number of rows per each distinct group of reel number, frame number, and recdate. The table was used to create the Party Count Table.

conveyance

Each assignment includes conveyance text describing what type of transaction occurred. The assignment records and documents are exchanged with the USPTO typically through a company representative or an attorney representing the company involved. The Conveyance Table records the both the type of transaction that occurred and the correspondent in charge of the assignment records. The conveyance text may be extremely relevant in tracking a firm's interactions with other IP firms, the historical context for a firm's asserted entity status with the UPSTO, and potentially the effects of patent case settlements and resolutions. Eventually, the large variety of conveyance text will be codified.

partycount

The Party Count Table records the number of parties involved in a transaction and specifies the patents involved in the given assignment. The table combines the Assignor and Assignee Count Tables in a more usable format. Additionally, the table illustrates a history of ownership of a patent, which may be considered as an indicator for patent litigation risk in the Little Guy Academic Paper.

patentid

The Patent ID Table contains a record of all patents and patent applications involved in US assignments. The table includes all types of patents as well as foreign patents. Since the table identifies the type of patent as well as whether the patentid corresponds to a patent or an application number, the patents of interest, utility patents, for the McNair Center academic projects may be distinguished and separated. Additionally, the Patent ID Table tracks the assignment history of a patent.