Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office  

Release: New Patent Assignments  

Units:  Patents, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Monthly

Notes:

The number of patent assignments for a county is based upon the cumulative assignees in a county for the designated time-period, i.e. the total number of patents transferred to assignees based in the county represented over the course of the particular month.

Assignment, in patent and trademark terms, is the act of transferring to another the ownership of one's property; meaning the interest and rights to a patent as defined by the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). In order for an assignment to take place, the transfer to another must include the entirety of the 'bundle of rights' associated with the ownership interest, meaning all of the rights that are inherent in the right, title, and interest in the patent or patent application.

The assignee is the person, group of persons, or organization that receives ownership rights of the patent application or patent from the assignor.

Please visit the Transferring Ownership/Assignments FAQs to query it for more information about assignments in general.