US 10289547

Here is a concise summary of US patent 10289547:

US Patent 10289547

• Title: Method and apparatus for a network connected storage system
• Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Inc.
• Inventors: James N. Malina, Allen Samuels
• Filing Date: April 11, 2017
• Issue Date: May 14, 2019
• Abstract: A Data Storage Device (DSD) includes a Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) for storing data, a network interface for communicating on a network, and a processor. According to one aspect, a command is received via the network interface for storing data in the NVM. A data writing methodology is dynamically selected for how the data will be physically stored in the NVM from among a plurality of data writing methodologies based at least in part on whether the command is to be performed using a first interface or a second interface for accessing data in the NVM. According to another aspect, respective storage capacities of the NVM and/or respective rates of consumption of different types of storage media in the NVM are assigned to the first interface and to the second interface.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1: This claim describes a method for a Data Storage Device (DSD). The method involves the DSD receiving a command to store data through its network connection. Based on whether this command is intended for a "first interface" or a "second interface" for accessing data, the DSD dynamically chooses a specific way (data writing methodology) to physically store the data in its Non-Volatile Memory (NVM). Finally, the DSD proceeds to store the data using the chosen methodology.

• Claim 10: This claim describes a physical Data Storage Device (DSD) itself. It comprises Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) for data storage and a network interface for communication. Crucially, it includes a processor configured to perform the actions outlined in Claim 1: receiving a data storage command via the network, dynamically selecting a data writing methodology based on whether the command uses a first or second interface, and then storing the data in the NVM using that selected methodology.

• Claim 17: This claim describes a method for a Data Storage Device (DSD) that involves managing two different ways (interfaces) to access data stored in its Non-Volatile Memory (NVM). The method includes assigning specific storage capacities within the NVM, or specific rates at which different types of NVM storage media (e.g., disk, solid-state) can be utilized, to each of these two interfaces. Subsequently, data is accessed in the NVM via the first interface, and this access adheres to the previously assigned storage capacity or consumption rate.

CAFC 2026 Dockets:
A search of CAFC 2026 dockets for patent number 10289547 did not return any specific results, indicating no active cases for this patent in the CAFC dockets for the year 2026 as of the current date (April 26, 2026).

As of April 26, 2026, a search for litigation involving US patent 10289547 did not yield any specific results on Unified Patents. No active cases for this patent were found in the CAFC dockets for 2026. PACER is a service for accessing federal court records, and a direct search within PACER would be needed for comprehensive district court and appellate litigation information. However, general searches for "US patent 10289547 litigation" did not immediately highlight any ongoing or concluded cases.

Therefore, based on the available information, no known litigation involving US patent 10289547 can be reported at this time.

Proceedings overview

A search of the USPTO Open Data Portal API and supplemental web searches indicate no active or concluded AIA trial proceedings (Inter Partes Review, Post-Grant Review, or Covered Business Method) have been filed against US patent 10289547 as of 2026-06-25. Therefore, all claims of the patent remain untested in an AIA trial context, presenting a clean slate for a potential defendant.

Strategic summary

As of the current date, all claims of US patent 10289547 are UNTESTED in any AIA trial proceeding. This means that no claims have been canceled or sustained by the PTAB, and no institution decisions have been made. For a defendant facing assertion of this patent, this absence of PTAB activity implies that the patent has not been subjected to the scrutiny of an IPR, PGR, or CBM.

The estoppel landscape is entirely open. Since no PTAB proceedings have occurred, there are no prior-art grounds that are barred from being raised by a potential petitioner under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2). All available prior art can still be presented in a new petition for IPR or PGR, assuming the statutory deadlines for filing such petitions are met. There is no pattern of PTAB challenges, aggressive appeals by the patent owner, or involvement of defensive aggregators to analyze.

Recommended next steps

Since no PTAB activity exists for US patent 10289547, the recommended next steps for a potential defendant would be to:

• Conduct a comprehensive prior art search: Identify the strongest prior art references to challenge the patentability of the claims, particularly focusing on claims 1, 10, and 17 which are independent claims.
• Evaluate IPR/PGR eligibility and timing: Determine if the statutory window for filing an IPR or PGR petition is still open and if the identified prior art grounds are suitable for such proceedings. IPRs typically target patents on §§ 102 and 103 grounds using patents and printed publications, while PGRs have a broader scope including § 112 and § 101 grounds and additional prior art types, but must be filed within nine months of the patent's grant date or reissue. Given the patent's issue date of 2019-05-14, the window for a PGR has long since closed. An IPR remains a possibility, subject to statutory one-year bar from service of a complaint.
• Assess potential for a new IPR: If an infringement assertion is received, evaluate the feasibility and cost-benefit of initiating an IPR against the asserted claims based on the strongest prior art found.

Inventors

• James N. Malina (Western Digital Technologies Inc.)
• Allen Samuels (Western Digital Technologies Inc.)

Original assignee

The original assignee, Western Digital Technologies Inc., is a major operating company in the data storage industry, known for shipping a wide range of products embodying data storage technologies, including hard disk drives and solid-state drives. Their primary line of business is the design, development, manufacturing, and sale of data storage solutions. Western Digital Technologies Inc. is currently operating.

Assignment timeline

• 2017-04-11 (executed) / recorded 2017-04-11 — Reel 039499/0989
  • Conveyance: Assignment
  • Assignor: JAMES N MALINA, ALLEN SAMUELS
  • Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
  • Correspondent: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 3355 Michelson Drive, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92612
  • Context: Original assignment from inventors to operating company.
• 2020-02-06 (executed) / recorded 2020-02-06 — Reel 051069/0635
  • Conveyance: Security Interest
  • Assignor: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
  • Assignee: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS AGENT
  • Correspondent: BAKER BOTTS L.L.P., 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112-4498
  • Context: Grant of security interest by the operating company.
• 2022-02-08 (executed) / recorded 2022-02-08 — Reel 052915/0566
  • Conveyance: Release
  • Assignor: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
  • Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
  • Correspondent: BAKER BOTTS L.L.P., 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112-4498. This correspondent also appears on reel 051069/0635.
  • Context: Release of security interest to the operating company.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10289547
    2017 : Inventors assigned to Western Digital
    2019 : Patent issued
    2020 : Security interest to JPMorgan
    2022 : Security interest released

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. The patent has remained with Western Digital Technologies Inc., an operating company.
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. None of the assignees (Western Digital Technologies Inc. or JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.) are known patent asserters.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. Baker Botts L.L.P. appears as the correspondent on both the security interest recording (reel 051069/0635) and the release of security interest (reel 052915/0566).
4. Cascading transfers — not present. There are no multiple consecutive assignments through chained LLCs.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. No litigation has been identified for this patent.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Western Digital Technologies Inc. is an operating company and no bankruptcy proceedings are indicated.
7. Privateering — not present. The patent remains with an operating company.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is not currently held by a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data. While the patent remains with an operating company (Western Digital Technologies Inc.) and shows no signs of transfer to a known NPE, the activity consists primarily of an initial assignment from inventors and a security interest followed by a release. There is no information regarding any assertion of this patent, making it difficult to definitively classify its current use.

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 10289547, I need to access the patent's full citation list. The USPTO provides a "Patent Public Search" tool for this purpose. While I cannot directly perform a live search and retrieve the detailed citation list from the USPTO database, I can outline the process and the type of information that would be extracted.

Process to Identify Prior Art:

1. Access USPTO Patent Public Search: Navigate to the USPTO's Patent Public Search website.
2. Search for Patent 10289547: Use the "Quick Lookup" or "Basic Search" function, entering the patent number "10289547" to retrieve the patent document.
3. Locate Cited References: Once the patent document is open, navigate to the "References Cited" section. This section lists both "U.S. Patent Documents" and "Other Publications" that were considered as prior art during the examination of patent 10289547.
4. Extract Information for Each Reference: For each listed reference, extract the following:
   • Full citation (e.g., patent number, inventor(s), issue date, title for patents; author, title, publication, date for non-patent literature).
   • Publication/filing date.
   • Brief description (often available in the abstract or first claim of a patent, or a summary for non-patent literature).
   • Which claim(s) of US 10289547 it potentially anticipates under 35 U.S.C. § 102. This last point requires a detailed comparison of the prior art's disclosures with the claims of US 10289547, which is beyond the scope of a simple data extraction and requires legal and technical expertise. However, I would highlight elements in the prior art that appear to disclose features of the independent claims (Claims 1, 10, and 17) of US 10289547.

Since I cannot perform this live search, I will state that the most relevant prior art would be found in the "References Cited" section of US patent 10289547's official USPTO record. Without direct access to that list, I cannot provide the specific citations, dates, descriptions, and claim anticipation analysis.

I cannot perform an obviousness analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103 for US patent 10289547 at this time.

The "Prior Art" section explicitly states that the specific citations, dates, descriptions, and claim anticipation analysis from the patent's "References Cited" section are not available. Without these specific prior art references, it is impossible to identify combinations of references or explain the motivation for a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine them.

To proceed with an obviousness analysis, the detailed "References Cited" list from US patent 10289547's official USPTO record would be required.

To provide a complete analysis of US patent 10289547, I will retrieve information regarding patent term adjustments (PTA), patent term extensions (PTE), continuation applications, divisional applications, related family members, and the projected expiration date directly from the USPTO database.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

The USPTO does not calculate expiration dates for patents, but provides a patent term calculator as a resource to help estimate the expiration date. Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) can extend the term of a U.S. patent to compensate for certain delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. This adjustment is added to the standard 20-year lifespan of the patent, measured from its earliest non-provisional filing date. Patent Term Extension (PTE), on the other hand, mitigates term loss due to other reasons, most importantly regulatory approval and/or review processes.

To determine specific PTA or PTE for US patent 10289547, one would need to access the patent's file history through the USPTO's online systems (e.g., Patent Center or Public PAIR) to review the official calculations. Without direct access to these specific documents, I cannot provide the exact PTA or PTE awarded to US patent 10289547.

Continuation Applications, Divisional Applications, and Related Family Members

• Continuation Applications: A continuation application is a new patent application filed to pursue additional claims to an invention already disclosed in an earlier, still-pending "parent" application. It uses the same specification as the parent and claims priority from the parent's filing date. New subject matter cannot be added to a continuation application.
• Divisional Applications: A divisional application arises when the USPTO determines that an original patent application claims more than one independent and distinct invention (a "restriction requirement"). The applicant can then file a divisional application for the non-elected invention(s), which retains the parent's filing date and priority. Like continuations, divisional applications cannot introduce new subject matter beyond what was disclosed in the original specification.
• Continuation-in-Part (CIP) Applications: A CIP application repeats a substantial portion of the parent application and adds new subject matter not disclosed in the earlier case.

To identify any continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part applications, and other related family members for US patent 10289547, a detailed review of the patent's "Related U.S. Application Data" section and the prosecution history on the USPTO website would be necessary.

Based on the initial information provided:
US10289547B2 claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 14/621,318, filed on Feb. 12, 2015, which itself claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/940,269, filed on Feb. 14, 2014, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/940,313, filed on Feb. 14, 2014. This indicates that US10289547B2 is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 14/621,318. The publication US20170220463A1 is also listed as "Other versions," which typically indicates a patent application publication related to the granted patent.

Projected Expiration Date

Most U.S. patents have a term of 20 years from the earliest nonprovisional filing date. Since US patent 10289547 is a utility patent, its term would generally be 20 years from its earliest claimed priority date, plus any Patent Term Adjustments (PTA).

The earliest priority date for US patent 10289547 is February 14, 2014 (from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/940,269 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/940,313). Therefore, the base expiration date would be February 14, 2034. The patent details state an "Anticipated expiration" of 2035-02-12, which suggests that there has been a Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) applied, extending the term by almost a year.

Projected Expiration Date: February 12, 2035.