US 12181127

Summary of US Patent 12,181,127 (US12181127B1)

Note on sources: The patent full text was provided in the request and is authoritative (Google Patents snapshot dated 2026-09-08). I supplemented with live web searches for USPTO and litigation status. I did not find any CAFC (Federal Circuit) 2026 appeal docket specifically naming patent 12,181,127 — the CAFC-specific searches returned no results. There is, however, an active Indiana Northern District Court case asserting the patent (below). I have no authoritative information about any pending CAFC appeal; that portion is uncertain.

Bibliographic data

• Title: LED light holder system
• Patent / publication number: US 12,181,127 B1 (application no. US 18/794,008)
• Assignee: Sigma Switches Plus, Inc. (listed as "SIGMA SWITCHES PLUS Inc.")
• Inventors: Brian Rothbauer, Adrian Byers, Nick Rothbauer
• Filing date: August 5, 2024
• Priority date: December 26, 2023 (U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/614,739)
• Issue/publication date: December 31, 2024
• Status: Active; anticipated expiration 2044-08-05 (20 years from filing)
• Total claims: 19 (three independent claims: 1, 8, 15)
• Classifications (representative): F21S4/28 (rigid LED bars), F21V19/0035, F21Y2103/10, F21Y2115/10; uses include RV/interior vehicle lighting (F21W2106/00)

Abstract

A light holding system having a light holder with wings that define an outer contoured surface. A channel extends inwardly of the outer contoured surface and has a bottom wall and lateral walls. The bottom wall has a ridge wall having a retention barb extending from a bottom surface. The wings are resiliently bendable between an uninstalled and an installed position. In the uninstalled position the tips of the wings are at a first distance from the retention barb, and in the installed position the tips of the wings are at a second distance; the second distance is greater than the first. An end cap having an outer shell and a coped portion within the end may receive the light holder in the coped portion.

Plain-language overview of independent claims

Claim 1 — Light holding system for an RV ceiling. A ceiling includes a joist and a retaining strip fastened to the joist; the strip has upstanding walls forming a groove with retention nubs. The system has (a) an elongate light holder with wings defining an outer contoured surface and ending in tips, a channel beneath that surface with overhanging walls, lateral walls, and a bottom wall, and an opening near the contoured surface; a ridge wall extends from the bottom of the bottom wall (opposite the channel) and carries a retention barb. The wings resiliently bend between an uninstalled position (tips at a first distance from the opening) and an installed position (tips at a nearer, second distance), and in the installed position the wings are biased away from the opening, back toward the uninstalled position; and (b) an end cap with an outer shell and a coped portion shaped to complementarily fit the light holder's outer contoured surface when inserted.

Claim 8 — Light holding system for an RV with panels. Similar to claim 1 but framed for use between panels abutting a joist, and adds specificity to the geometry: the channel's overhanging walls extend toward each other and are narrower than the channel's internal width; the retention barb is spaced from the bottom surface and at least part of it is wider than the ridge wall. Same resilient wing/bias structure and same end-cap-with-coped-portion requirement as claim 1.

Claim 15 — Light holding system for adjacent panels (generic). Broadest structural recitation without the RV/ceiling context or overhanging-wall limitation present in claims 1 and 8. It requires the elongate light holder (wings with tips, outer contoured surface, channel with lateral walls defining an internal width, bottom wall, opening, ridge wall with a retention barb spaced from the bottom surface, a portion of the barb wider than the ridge wall), wings resiliently bendable between uninstalled and installed positions with the second distance nearer the opening, bias away from the opening toward the uninstalled position, and the end cap with the coped portion having a complementary fit.

Dependent claims (2–7, 9–14, 16–19) add details such as: inclined/catch surfaces on the retention barb and overhanging walls; terminal edges narrower than the lateral walls; the channel gripping an LED light strip when the wings are installed (no adhesive needed); the end cap having its own ridge wall and retention barb engaging the groove; and an opacity feature on the shell near the coped portion to block light leakage.

Litigation status (as found in live search)

• The patent is being asserted in Sigma Switches Plus, Inc. v. ABC Marketing, Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-00888, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana (filed 2025; the Google Patents record flags "family has litigation" for this case). A docket entry dated 01/30/2026 shows the case in claim-construction/scheduling phases, with preliminary infringement contentions due February 2026 and claim-construction exchanges in March–April 2026. The accused product is described in the complaint as the "LineLite Track" LED lighting system (Stellar Lighting brand).
• A separate, later case, Sigma Switches Plus Inc v. Vista Mfg Inc., No. 3:26-cv-01242 (N.D. Ind., opened 2026, patent infringement, status open), also appears in search results, though I could not confirm from the snippet alone that 12,181,127 is asserted there — treat that as unverified.

Uncertainty note: I could not verify via search whether any appeal of these district-court matters has been docketed at the CAFC in 2026. The CAFC docket searches returned no results for this patent number, so absence of an appeal is not affirmatively confirmed — only no CAFC 2026 docket was found.