US 10298644

US Patent 10298644 Summary

Title: Instant communications system having established communication channels between communication devices

Assignee: Individual

Inventor: Hong Jiang

Filing Date: November 30, 2015 (Application No. US14/954,693)

Issue Date: May 21, 2019

Abstract: A communication server and accompanying communication devices enable near-instantaneous communication between users. Each communication device can be configured with multiple channels, with each channel assigned to a corresponding communication device. With communication devices registered to the server, they are aware of other registered devices, allowing for nearly instantaneous communication. A single communication device can also host a conference call with other devices. Additionally, the devices feature multiple buttons for control and indicator lights to show call status.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

Independent Claim 1:
This claim describes an instant communication device. It has a processor, memory, microphone, speaker, and communication circuitry. The memory stores instructions, and the communication circuitry is connected to a network. The device is configured to:

• Establish communication channels with other communication devices via a server before any calls are placed. These channels are kept alive using minimal signaling messages.
• Allow a user to initiate a call to a connected device by a single action on a user control (like pressing a button) without any call setup delay.
• Automatically play an incoming audio stream from a connected device through its speaker without the user needing to perform an action to pick up the call, and without a ringtone.
• Allow the user to control outgoing or incoming audio streams (or both) separately through user controls, making communication instant and direct, as if users were in the same room.

Independent Claim 10:
This claim focuses on an instant communication system that includes a plurality of communication devices and a communication server, all connected via a network.

• Each communication device has a processor, memory, microphone, speaker, and communication circuitry.
• The system is configured to establish communication channels between the devices prior to any calls, maintaining them with minimal signaling.
• A user can initiate a call to another device with a single user control action (e.g., pushing a button) without call setup.
• Incoming audio streams are automatically played on the receiving device's speaker without a pick-up action or ringtone.
• Users can individually control incoming and/or outgoing audio streams via user controls, enabling instant and direct communication.

Independent Claim 19:
This claim outlines a method for instant communication using an instant communication device connected to a server and other devices. The method involves:

• Establishing communication channels with other devices before calls are placed and maintaining them with minimal signaling.
• Initiating a call to a connected device in response to a single user action on a user control, without call setup.
• Automatically playing an incoming audio stream from a connected device through a speaker without a pick-up action or ringtone.
• Allowing separate control of incoming and/or outgoing audio streams through user controls, facilitating instant and direct communication.

CAFC 2026 Dockets:

As of April 26, 2026, a search of CAFC 2026 dockets for patent 10298644 did not return any direct listings for this specific patent number. However, the provided patent information indicates that the patent family has litigation in the "Texas Eastern District Court" under case number 2:26-cv-00041. While this is not a CAFC docket, it indicates ongoing litigation at the district court level within the 2026 timeframe. The search results for CAFC cases for 2026 show general patent infringement cases and updates, but no direct match for 10298644. Therefore, there is no authoritative information currently indicating that US10298644 is specifically involved in a case before the CAFC in 2026.

As of April 26, 2026, a search for patent litigation involving US patent 10298644 reveals the following:

Known Litigation:

• Jurisdiction: Texas Eastern District Court
• Case Number: 2:26-cv-00041
• Plaintiff(s): Not specified in the provided patent information.
• Defendant(s): Not specified in the provided patent information.
• Filing Date: Not specified in the provided patent information.
• Outcome or Current Status: Ongoing litigation at the district court level.

The available information from the patent (US10298644B2) explicitly states "Family has litigation" and points to the Texas Eastern District Court case. However, further details regarding the specific plaintiffs, defendants, and filing date are not available within the patent text itself or from the search results. While other litigation cases were found in the search, they do not pertain to US patent 10298644.

Proceedings overview

The USPTO ODP API returns no AIA trial proceedings for US Patent 10298644 as of the most recent ingest. A comprehensive web search also yielded no public records of Inter Partes Reviews (IPR), Post-Grant Reviews (PGR), or Covered Business Method (CBM) reviews having been filed against this patent. Therefore, there are no PTAB proceedings on file, and all claims of US10298644 remain unchallenged by AIA trials. This gives a defendant no immediate PTAB-related leverage, indicating the patent has not yet been subjected to this form of validity challenge.

Strategic summary

As of today, July 31, 2026, all claims (1-20) of US10298644 are currently SUSTAINED in the sense that they have not been challenged or adjudicated by the PTAB in any AIA trial proceeding. There are no claims that have been canceled or invalidated through IPR, PGR, or CBM. The patent has not been narrowed through PTAB proceedings, and its full scope, as granted, is theoretically available for assertion.

Regarding the estoppel landscape, since no AIA trial proceedings have been instituted or concluded, there are no estoppel bars under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) for any potential petitioner. This means all prior-art grounds (e.g., anticipation under § 102, obviousness under § 103) are still available for a new PTAB petition, should a defendant choose to pursue one. There are no pattern signals to observe, such as multiple filings by the same petitioner or aggressive appeals by the patent owner, as there has been no PTAB activity whatsoever for this patent.

Recommended next steps

Given the absence of any PTAB activity for US10298644, the following steps are recommended:

• If you are a defendant facing assertion of this patent: The lack of PTAB challenges means the patent's validity has not been tested in this forum. This presents both an opportunity and a challenge. You have a "clean slate" to potentially file a new IPR or PGR petition if you identify strong prior art. However, it also means there's no existing PTAB decision to lean on for invalidity arguments.
• Prior Art Search: Conduct a thorough prior art search to identify strong references that could form the basis of an IPR petition. The patent's priority date is May 4, 2012, so prior art predating this date would be relevant.
• Claim Construction Analysis: Perform a detailed claim construction analysis of the asserted claims to identify potential vulnerabilities for an IPR or district court invalidity defense.
• Consider filing an IPR/PGR: If a robust prior art search yields strong references, consider filing an IPR (for § 102/103 grounds) against the patent. This would introduce the first formal challenge to its validity in the PTAB.

The absence of PTAB activity is a noteworthy signal itself; well-asserted patents often become targets for IPRs. This could imply the patent has not yet been aggressively asserted, or that prior art challenges have not been deemed strong enough to pursue in this venue.

Inventors

• Hong Jiang (Individual at time of filing)

Original assignee

The original assignee, as per Google Patents, is "Individual". It is not determinable from the provided information whether "Individual" shipped a product embodying the claims, their primary line of business, or their current status.

Assignment timeline

A search of the USPTO Assignment Center for patent 10298644 shows no recorded assignments for this patent. Therefore, based on the USPTO records, the original assignee, "Individual" (Hong Jiang), is still the current owner of record.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 10298644
    2015 : Filed by Hong Jiang
    2019 : Issued to Hong Jiang

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present
4. Cascading transfers — not present
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present
7. Privateering — not present
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present

Verdict

Insufficient data
There are no recorded assignments for US 10298644 on the USPTO Assignment Center. Therefore, it is not possible to determine any NPE or troll-pattern signals. The patent remains assigned to the individual inventor, Hong Jiang, as of the issue date.
(Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/)

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 10298644

As of April 26, 2026, the following prior art references are identified as potentially relevant to US Patent 10298644 based on the patent's own citations. A direct search of the USPTO database for the patent number 10298644 reveals the patent itself and its associated information, including cited prior art. The analysis below focuses on the citations listed within the US10298644B2 patent document.

Cited Patent: US6997014B2

• Full Citation: US6997014B2, titled "Coatings for gemstones and other decorative objects".
• Publication/Filing Date: The provided information for US10298644B2 lists a "Prior art date" of 2012-05-04 and a "Filing date" of 2015-11-30. However, US6997014B2's detailed information indicates its filing date as July 16, 2004, and its issue date as February 14, 2006.
• Brief Description: This patent describes coatings for gemstones and other decorative objects, specifically focusing on coatings that impart desirable color and methods for producing these coatings. It discusses optical interference coatings and highly reflective mirror coatings for enhancing optical properties.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US6997014B2, as described, pertains to coatings for decorative objects and appears to be entirely unrelated to communication systems or methods. Therefore, it is highly unlikely to anticipate any claims of US Patent 10298644 under 35 U.S.C. § 102. There might be a discrepancy in the provided patent document's "Prior art keywords" or the way this specific reference was extracted for the summary, as its subject matter does not align with the communication system claimed in 10298644. It is possible this citation is an error in the provided context or an irrelevant citation from the original patent.

The user is asking for an obviousness analysis of US patent 10298644 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, using the provided patent text as the authoritative source, especially the "Prior art keywords" and "Prior art date" sections. I need to identify combinations of prior art references (from the patent's own cited prior art or general knowledge described in the background) and explain the motivation for combining them.

The provided patent text includes:

• "Prior art keywords: user, communication device, talk, processor, button"
• "Prior art date: 2012-05-04"
• Background section describing conventional communication devices (phones, push-to-talk, instant messaging software systems, VoIP) and their limitations.
• Definitions of various terms and figures.

I will focus on what was known before the priority date of May 4, 2012, based on the patent's own description of prior art, as well as general knowledge in the field of communication technologies at that time.

Key aspects of US Patent 10298644 (derived from Independent Claims 1, 10, and 19):

1. Pre-established Communication Channels: Communication channels are established between devices before any calls are placed and maintained with minimal signaling messages.
2. Single-Action Call Initiation: A user can initiate a call to a connected device with a single action on a user control (e.g., pressing a button), eliminating call setup delay.
3. Automatic Incoming Audio Playback: Incoming audio streams from a connected device are automatically played through the speaker without requiring a user action to pick up the call and without a ringtone.
4. Separate Control of Audio Streams: Users can separately control outgoing and/or incoming audio streams through user controls.
5. Instant and Direct Communication: The system facilitates communication that is "instant and direct as if the users were physically present in the same room."

Prior Art Identified in US Patent 10298644's Background (prior to May 4, 2012):

• Conventional Phones: These require dialing, ringtones, and explicit pickup actions. Callers and callees do not have separate control over incoming and outgoing call legs. (Patent Background)
• Push-to-Talk (PTT) Systems: PTT cell phones offer "instant voice with a push of button" and are "mainly designed for one-to-many type of group calls." However, they are "only half duplex, meaning communication is one way at any time." (Patent Background)
• Instant Messaging (IM) Software Systems: These indicate user status and allow instant text messages but "don't provide instant voice or video services." (Patent Background)
• Voice over IP (VoIP): VoIP technologies "require call setup due to the limited network resources at the time of its development." The patent notes that by the filing date, "resources are abundant relatively speaking in consideration of the bandwidth requirements of the real-time voice and video communications," implying that call setup was increasingly viewed as an unnecessary delay in broadband networks. (Patent Background)

Obviousness Analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103:

A patent claim is obvious if "the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains." (35 U.S.C. § 103). To establish obviousness, a motivation to combine prior art references must be demonstrated.

A person having ordinary skill in the art (POSA) in communication systems, as of the May 4, 2012 priority date, would have been familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of various communication technologies, including traditional telephony, Push-to-Talk (PTT), and Voice over IP (VoIP). The problems addressed by US10298644 were explicitly recognized in the field.

Combination of Prior Art References:

We consider a combination of:

1. Push-to-Talk (PTT) Communication Systems (e.g., as described in US20070155415A1 and mentioned in the background of US10298644).
2. Voice over IP (VoIP) Communication Systems (e.g., as generally known in the art, and as discussed in US8194640B2 and the background of US10298644).
3. General Network Management and User Interface Design Principles known to a POSA in 2012.

Motivation to Combine and How Claims Become Obvious:

A POSA would be motivated to combine the immediacy and single-action initiation of PTT systems with the full-duplex capabilities and network efficiencies of VoIP, driven by the desire to overcome the recognized limitations of each system in the context of increasing broadband availability.

1. Pre-established Communication Channels with Minimal Signaling (Claims 1, 10, 19):

   • Prior Art: While VoIP systems typically involved "call setup", the background of US10298644 explicitly notes that "the need for call set up on a broadband network is obviated as the network bandwidth grows" and "there is little need for the traditional call setup in today's broadband networks." This statement, presented as a problem with existing VoIP systems, indicates that by 2012, a POSA would recognize that maintaining persistent, pre-established connections with minimal "keep-alive" signaling messages would reduce latency and improve the "instant" nature of communication. This approach is analogous to persistent network connections (e.g., TCP keep-alives) common in network design, which aim to reduce connection setup time. The server facilitating channel establishment is inherent in many network-based communication systems, including PTT systems that manage groups of users.
   • Motivation: The motivation would be to eliminate the acknowledged delay of "call setup" in VoIP by maintaining an "always-on" logical channel, similar to how a PTT system might maintain a connection for a group, but extended to individual peer-to-peer relationships. This directly addresses the stated problem of call setup hindering instant communication.

2. Single-Action Call Initiation without Call Setup Delay (Claims 1, 10, 19):

   • Prior Art: PTT systems already provided "instant voice with a push of button." Traditional phones, in contrast, required "dialing of digits" and waiting for a "ringtone."
   • Motivation: A POSA would clearly be motivated to adopt the proven single-button initiation mechanism from PTT systems to achieve "instant" communication, recognizing its effectiveness in eliminating dialing. By combining this with the pre-established channels, the "call setup delay" would be inherently removed, resulting in a more streamlined user experience similar to PTT but without its duplex limitations.

3. Automatic Incoming Audio Playback without User Action or Ringtone (Claims 1, 10, 19):

   • Prior Art: Conventional phones require the callee to "push at least a button to be able to hear the caller" and involve a "ringtone." The patent states there would be "no dial tone or ringtone" and "no picking up the call by the callee either."
   • Motivation: Given the explicit goal of "instant communications experience" that mimics users being "physically present in the same room," a POSA would find it obvious to configure a device with a pre-established channel to automatically play incoming audio. This removes an unnecessary user interaction (picking up) and an auditory signal (ringtone) that actively detracts from the desired "instant" and "present" feeling. This is a logical design choice for a system prioritizing immediacy over traditional call formalities.

4. Separate Control of Incoming and/or Outgoing Audio Streams (Claims 1, 10, 19):

   • Prior Art: The patent background states that "Callers and callees don't have control of the call legs separately" in conventional phone calls, and "With traditional phones, there is no option for a caller or a callee to control the call legs." PTT is "half duplex," meaning communication is one way at a time, further limiting individual control over simultaneous incoming and outgoing streams.
   • Motivation: Recognizing the limitations of both conventional phones and PTT systems, a POSA would be motivated to integrate individual control over audio streams, similar to how separate microphone mute and speaker volume controls function in existing audio conferencing or broadcast systems. The patent itself highlights the practical scenarios where a user might only need to speak or only listen, indicating a clear need for such granular control. Providing distinct "Talk Buttons" and "Silence Buttons" (as depicted in the figures and described in the specification) for separate channels is a straightforward user interface design choice to implement this desired functionality, leveraging existing concepts of audio input/output management.

Conclusion:

The independent claims of US Patent 10298644, describing an instant communication system, device, and method, would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art by the priority date of May 4, 2012. The claimed invention combines known elements from Push-to-Talk (PTT) systems and Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies, along with common network and user interface design principles. The motivation to combine these elements stems from the widely recognized problems in existing communication systems, particularly the delays and lack of flexible control, which the patent itself explicitly identifies as shortcomings of the prior art. The predictable result of such a combination would be an improved instant communication experience, directly addressing these known problems in a manner evident to a POSA in an era of ubiquitous broadband connectivity.