Another IP due diligence item is to determine if there are joint ventures or partnerships which will impact the merger going forward. A way to answer this question is shown in the “Partnerships Seen Via Inventor Records” figure.  In this analytical display the patent account by assignee is tabulated. In cases where inventors are shown to have assigned their rights to multiple entities, those entities should be double checked to make sure they are not clouding the merger by way of being previous company partnerships.