Patents
US 9734723 B1: Process and system to register and regulate unmanned aerial vehicle operations
- Granted
- 2017-08-15
- Filed
- 2015-07-15 application 14800204
- Type
- Utility · 20 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
A registration authority (RA) server registers unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their owners/operators (O/O). A UAV is maintained in a flight lock state until a flight plan request from the O/O is approved by the RA, which sends an key-signed approval to unlock the UAV's flight lock. The RA server evaluates a UAV's proposed flight plan based on the attributes of the O/O and UAV, the location and time of the requested flight plan, and a set of flight rules and exclusion zones that are developed in view of privacy assurance, security assurance, flight safety assurance, and ground safety assurance. The flight plan key-signed approval supplied to the UAV by the RA server specifies an inclusion zone that corresponds to a flight plan trajectory to be followed. Once in flight, the UAV maintains real-time knowledge of its position and time to ensure its flight remains within the approved inclusion zone.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg170815.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exelis Inc. 229 patents | US company or organization | Herndon, VA | EXELIS INC. State business registration EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state EXELIS INC. SEC filer EXACT medium confidence: identical full name, one of each nationally | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Bruno | Arlington, VA | 3 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| James Mathew Keller | Silver Spring, MD | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Christian Ramsey | Purcellville, VA | 8 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| G08G | Traffic control systems | G08G5/30 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| G01C | Measuring distances, levels or bearings; surveying; navigation; gyroscopic instruments; photogrammetry or videogrammetry | G01C21/3826 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| G06Q | Information and communication technology [ict] specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes; systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not otherwise provided for | G06Q10/00 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| B64C | Aeroplanes; helicopters | B64C19/00 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| B64U | Unmanned aerial vehicles [uav]; equipment therefor | B64U2201/00 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| G05D | Systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables | G05D1/00 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | VERTICAL AUTONOMY LLC signed 2026-06-12 | AERVARA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC AUSTIN, TX | 76358/758 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2025-12-03 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. signed 2025-10-30 | VERTICAL AUTONOMY, LLC HILLSDALE, MI | 73100/627 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2025-10-24 | Name change Change of name | HARRIS CORPORATION signed 2019-06-28 | L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. MELBOURNE, FL | 73266/804 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2017-12-04 | Merger Merger | EXELIS INC. signed 2015-12-23 | HARRIS CORPORATION MELBOURNE, FL | 44284/675 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2015-07-15 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | BRUNO, RONALD signed 2015-07-09 KELLER, JAMES MATHEW signed 2015-07-09 RAMSEY, CHRISTIAN signed 2015-07-09 | EXELIS INC. HERNDON, VA | 36098/442 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.