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Reference to patent: USD623,571
I'm looking at the noted Legal Events for this patent.
Why are assignments given for this design patent? You can see the sssignors on the Google webpage, but not on the USPTO website.
Does this mean that the patent was transferred over to others, or there is some sort of conflicts of ownership here? Can design patents actually have assignments?
I always thought that process was only given for Utility Applications.
Yes, the ownership of a design patent can be transferred to someone else (i.e. assigned) just like a utility patents.
Patent ownership and assignment are covered in 35 U.S.C. 261 and discussed in Chapter 300 of the MPEP. The right to patent a design comes from 35 U.S.C 171 which states:
The provisions of this title relating to patents for inventions shall apply to patents for designs, except as otherwise provided.
There are differences in the rights of priority and the term, but not in assignment.
For this particular design patent, there is no assignment data in USPTO PAIR or the USPTO Assignment Search Tool.
Using the Advanced Search function of the USPTO Assignment Search Tool, I was able to find the assignments that correspond to the Reel/Frame of the ones listed in Google Patent. The document they have in common is US20100179089, which appears to have nothing to do with the design patent. However, Google Patent lists the exact same assignment information.
So, best guess? The assignments that Google Patent lists for USD623,571 are an error.
