Invalidity dossier
US 1062785
Mail-box.
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/23/2026, 6:11:19 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US1062785A — "Mail-box"
Bibliographic data (as supplied): Title, "Mail-box." Inventor: Temistocle E. Mela, of Sacramento, California. Original assignee and current assignee: Individual (Google notes assignee listings may be inaccurate). Application No. US72249112A; filing/priority date 1912-09-26; granted and published 1913-05-27; anticipated expiration 1930-05-27; status "Expired – Lifetime." Classification A47G29/12 (mail receptacles) and A47G29/121 (signalling devices). Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US1062785](/patent/US1062785)/en
Purpose: The box (1) is square or rectangular with an open bottom closed by a hinged drop door (2) that swings from the rear edge to discharge mail into a collecting sack slipped over the lower end. A top inlet (4) has a drop guard (5). A dial (6) below the inlet indicates collection times, normally covered by a glass cover hinged to drop by gravity (60); a supplemental indicator plate (7) with cover (70) displays notices. The stated aim is to make it impossible for the postman to collect mail without noticing the dial, drawing attention to resetting it for the next collection.
Plain-language scope: A key-operated mechanism simultaneously releases the bottom door and the dial cover. A slide bolt (8), mounted in a front-wall housing (80) and normally forced inward by coiled spring (9), locks the drop door and has a beveled edge (90) for snap-closing and lateral guide lugs (83) in grooves. A latch (10), hinged at (11) inside the front wall, is spring-urged to a locking position and held by a guard (12); a latch tongue (14) on the dial cover interlocks with it. A rockable unlocking member (15) above the bolt carries a crank lug (16) engaging a diagonal, downwardly curved groove (17) in the bolt top, plus a key seat (17a) aligning with keyhole (18) for key (19); a crank (20) connects via flexible connection (21) to the latch's free end. Turning member (15) slides the bolt back and pulls the latch down. Five claims cover the combined locked closure, indicator and cover, key-controlled release, cam-way/rocker arrangement, gravity-dropped cover, and specific latch/rocker structure.
Not established by this excerpt: the full specification text and drawing details (image content is not reproduced); the inventor's citizenship or any assignment history; and—per the above scope limits—no litigation, ownership-transfer, validity, or prior-art analysis is made.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:42:58 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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PTAB challenges
AIA trial proceedings at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board — IPR, PGR, and CBM. Petitioners, judge panels, claim-level invalidation outcomes from Final Written Decisions, and Federal Circuit appeals. The single most important defensive datapoint after litigation history.
Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.