Prior art

Here is an analysis of the most relevant prior art for US Patent No. 11,096,252, based on the patent's citations and the principles of 35 U.S.C. § 102 for anticipation. The priority date for US11096252B2 is December 22, 2006.

The patent lists eight "Patent citations" on its Google Patents page. Upon review, most of these citations are other patents by the same inventor (Altamura) that were filed or published after the priority date of US11096252B2 or claim priority to the same provisional application. Therefore, they do not qualify as anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102 against the claims of US11096252B2.

The only patent citation that predates the priority date of US11096252B2 and is therefore eligible for consideration as anticipatory prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,120 to Fisherman.

Most Relevant Prior Art Analysis:

Reference: U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,120 (Fisherman)

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,120 A to Fisherman
• Publication/Filing Date:
  • Publication Date: August 21, 1956
  • Filing Date: October 21, 1954
• Brief Description: This patent discloses a series circuit for a light set that employs individual incandescent flasher or twinkle bulbs. Each bulb has a bypass resistor connected in parallel with its bulb element. The resistor's function is to conduct current during the "off" time of the flashing bulb, thereby regulating heat generation. The patent text for US11096252B2 specifically notes that the Fisherman device is limited to flashing bulbs with a duty cycle of less than 100% to manage heat. It cannot be used to keep lights illuminated if a bulb is burnt out, removed, or has a loose connection, because continuous conduction through the bypass resistor in such high-power incandescent systems would lead to dangerous overheating and a fire risk. The Fisherman bulb is characterized as a high-energy bulb (8 volts, 1/4 amp, 2 watts).
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: None of the claims of US11096252B2 are anticipated by U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,120. All independent claims (1, 9, and 10) and, by extension, the dependent claims (such as 14, which refers back to claims about LED chips/packages), explicitly specify "LED light sources" or "LED chips/packages." U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,120, however, distinctly describes a system utilizing "incandescent flasher or twinkle bulbs." For a prior art reference to anticipate a claim under 35 U.S.C. § 102, every element of the claim must be disclosed, either explicitly or inherently, within that single reference. Since the type of light source (LED vs. incandescent) is a clearly defined element in the claims of US11096252B2, and Fisherman does not disclose LED light sources, it cannot anticipate these claims.

Other Cited Patents:

The remaining seven patent citations listed on the Google Patents page for US11096252B2 are by the same inventor, Steven J. Altamura, and include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,851,981 B2, 9,900,968 B2, 10,492,282 B2, and U.S. Patent Application Publications 2011/0062875 A1, 2014/0042903 A1, 2020/0100347 A1, and 2007/0146036 A1. These are related applications, many of which claim priority to the same provisional application (U.S. Provisional Application 60/876,868, filed on Dec. 22, 2006) as US11096252B2. As such, they do not serve as anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102 for the claimed invention in US11096252B2.