US 12238815

US Patent 12238815 Summary

Here is a summary of US Patent 12238815, "Method and system for using a situational network":

• Title: Method and system for using a situational network
• Assignee: Sitnet LLC
• Inventors: Thomas Cona, Patrick T. Igoe, Leonid Kravets, Edward A. Ehrlacher
• Filing Date: April 18, 2024
• Issue Date: February 25, 2025
• Abstract: A situational network is created when an occurrence or expected occurrence of an event or situation causes connections to be established between a set of participants. The situational network allows the participants to interact and exchange information regarding the event or situation. The participants may include users and external entities, such as situation authorities, central authorities, or trusted providers. The situational network may be formed using a centralized architecture, a decentralized architecture, or a combination thereof. The situational network may be established using the framework of an N-dimensional social network (NDSN), with each user having a Personal Information Aggregator (PIA). The situation or event itself may also be associated with an event node in the network.
• Plain-language overview of independent claims:
  • Claim 1: This claim describes a computer-implemented method for managing information within a situational network. The method involves identifying an event or situation, establishing the situational network based on this event (which includes connecting a situation authority to users, each having a personal information aggregator (PIA)), and then the situation authority distributing information related to the event to the users' PIAs. The method also includes the situation authority receiving information related to the event from the users' PIAs and propagating this information to other users' PIAs. The connections between the participants can be temporary or persistent, and can be established automatically, by request, or by invitation.
  • Claim 12: This claim is directed to a system that performs the method of Claim 1. The system includes a processor and memory configured to perform the steps of identifying an event, establishing a situational network (including connecting a situation authority server to user devices with PIAs), and the situation authority server distributing, receiving, and propagating event-related information to and from the user devices.
  • Claim 20: This claim describes a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of Claim 1. This means the claim covers the software or programming that enables a computer system to operate the situational network as described in Claim 1.

No information regarding US patent 12238815 was found in the CAFC 2026 dockets. The search results provided general information about CAFC cases in 2026 but did not specifically mention this patent number.

Litigation involving US Patent 12238815:

• Case Name: SitNet LLC v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
• Jurisdiction: New York Southern District Court
• Case Number: 1:25-cv-06185
• Filing Date: July 28, 2025
• Plaintiff(s): SitNet LLC
• Defendant(s): Meta Platforms, Inc.
• Current Status: An initial Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order was filed on November 4, 2025, presided over by United States District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas. Discovery was underway as of January 7, 2026. The parties were to update the court by September 15, 2025, regarding final written decisions expected in inter partes reviews (IPRs) of four patents asserted in a July 2023 complaint, though this patent (US12238815) was part of a second complaint filed approximately two years later (August 1, 2025).

It is worth noting that while US12238815B2 is mentioned as having a PTAB case IPR2026-00111 filed, the previous section already established that institution for this IPR was denied.

Proceedings overview

A single AIA trial proceeding has been filed against US patent 12238815: IPR2026-00111. This proceeding concluded with a status of "Institution Denied". For a defendant, this means the patent's challenged claims have not been formally invalidated or subjected to a full trial at the PTAB, thus presenting a situation where the patent claims remain legally intact despite the attempt to challenge them.

IPR2026-00111 — Meta Platforms, Inc. v. Sitnet LLC

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2025-11-12
• Status: Institution Denied (as of 2026-04-28). This means the PTAB declined to institute a full trial on the challenged claims, finding the petitioner did not meet the threshold for proceeding to trial.
• Judge panel: The specific judge panel for this proceeding is not publicly available from the provided search results.
• Petition grounds: The specific claims challenged, the prior art asserted, and the statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) for this particular IPR (IPR2026-00111) against US12238815 are not publicly available in the provided search results.
• Institution decision: Denied on 2026-04-28. The denial was "on merits", indicating that the PTAB determined the petitioner, Meta Platforms, Inc., did not demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on the challenged claims. The precise reasoning for this denial is not available without the full decision document.
• Final Written Decision: Not applicable, as institution was denied.
• Settlement / termination: Not applicable, as the proceeding was concluded by a denial of institution.
• Appeal: Denials of institution are generally considered unreviewable by the Federal Circuit.
• Defensive value: The claims of US12238815 targeted by Meta Platforms, Inc. in this petition were not subjected to a full IPR trial and were not found unpatentable by the PTAB. This outcome strengthens the patent owner's position as it means the claims survived an initial validity challenge. For a defendant facing assertion of this patent, it suggests that the specific arguments and evidence presented by Meta Platforms were deemed insufficient to meet the institution standard.

Strategic summary

All claims of US12238815 remain UNTESTED by a full PTAB trial. Since the IPR petition IPR2026-00111 was denied institution, no claims have been canceled or formally sustained by a Final Written Decision. The patent maintains its full claim scope as granted by the USPTO.

Regarding estoppel, because IPR2026-00111 was denied institution, no statutory estoppel under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) applies to Meta Platforms, Inc. or its privies concerning any grounds that were raised or reasonably could have been raised in this petition. This leaves open the possibility for Meta Platforms, or another entity, to file new IPR petitions against the same patent, provided they present new prior art or different arguments, and are not barred by other procedural rules such as the time-bar for filing or any discretionary denials imposed by the Director.

The fact that Meta Platforms, Inc. (a significant operating company) filed an IPR against a SitNet LLC patent, aligns with a pattern of Meta actively challenging patents, including those of SitNet LLC. The "Institution Denied - Merits" status for IPR2026-00111 indicates the PTAB found the substantive arguments for unpatentability lacking, rather than denying based on discretionary factors that have become more common under Director Squires, such as parallel litigation (Fintiv) or domestic manufacturing considerations. The patent family's activity is monitored by defensive aggregators like Unified Patents, as noted in the Google Patents listing, indicating its relevance in the intellectual property landscape.

Recommended next steps

• Since the IPR petition was denied institution, no claims of US12238815 were invalidated. A defendant facing assertion of this patent should attempt to obtain and thoroughly review the full institution decision for IPR2026-00111. Understanding the PTAB's specific reasoning for denying institution on the merits would be crucial to identify what deficiencies were found in Meta Platforms' arguments and prior art. This insight could help a new challenger formulate stronger arguments or seek out different prior art references.
• There are no active PTAB proceedings concerning US12238815 based on the provided information.
• The absence of an instituted IPR means the patent has not undergone a full validity challenge at the PTAB. This presents an opportunity for a potential defendant to initiate a new IPR if they identify robust prior art and arguments capable of meeting the institution threshold and addressing any issues raised in the denial of IPR2026-00111.

Inventors

• Thomas Cona (Sitnet LLC)
• Patrick T. Igoe (Sitnet LLC)
• Leonid Kravets (Sitnet LLC)
• Edward A. Ehrlacher (Sitnet LLC)

Original assignee

Sitnet LLC is the original assignee. It is unclear if Sitnet LLC shipped a product embodying the claims based on the provided patent text. The patent text describes a "Method and system for using a situational network," which suggests a software or service-based product. Google Patents lists Sitnet LLC as the "Current Assignee" and states the legal status as "Active, expires 2027-12-04".

Assignment timeline

• 2024-04-19 (executed) / recorded 2024-04-19 — Reel 059952/0157

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: EHRLACHER, EDWARD A., KRAVETS, LEONID, IGOE, PATRICK T., CONA, THOMAS
  • Assignee: RESOURCE CONSORTIUM LIMITED
  • Correspondent: BAEHR, DAVID, LAW OFFICE OF DAVID BAEHR
  • Context: Internal reorg (transfer from individual inventors to an entity)

• 2024-04-19 (executed) / recorded 2024-04-19 — Reel 059952/0158

  • Conveyance: Re-domestication and Entity Conversion
  • Assignor: RESOURCE CONSORTIUM LIMITED
  • Assignee: RESOURCE CONSORTIUM LIMITED, LLC
  • Correspondent: BAEHR, DAVID, LAW OFFICE OF DAVID BAEHR. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal reorg (entity conversion)

• 2024-04-19 (executed) / recorded 2024-04-19 — Reel 059952/0159

  • Conveyance: Assignment of Assignors Interest
  • Assignor: RESOURCE CONSORTIUM LIMITED, LLC
  • Assignee: SitNet LLC
  • Correspondent: BAEHR, DAVID, LAW OFFICE OF DAVID BAEHR. This correspondent recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Internal reorg (transfer to current assignee)

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12238815
    2007 : Priority date
    2024 : Filed by Sitnet LLC
         : Assigned to Resource Consortium Limited
         : Assigned to Resource Consortium Limited LLC
         : Assigned to SitNet LLC
    2025 : Issued
    2026 : PTAB case IPR2026-00111 filed
         : US case filed in New York Southern District Court

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. While the assignee names (RESOURCE CONSORTIUM LIMITED, RESOURCE CONSORTIUM LIMITED, LLC, SitNet LLC) could suggest shell entities, the provided information does not definitively confirm this through details like registered-agent addresses or explicit statements about product commerce.

2. Known asserter in the chain — present. Google Patents indicates "PTAB case IPR2026-00111 filed (Pending)" and "US case filed in New York Southern District Court" for this patent, and lists "Unified Patents" as a petitioner in the PTAB case and "District Court" as the source for the New York case. Unified Patents is a known defensive aggregator and actively tracks NPE assertions. The fact that they are challenging this patent in an IPR suggests it is being asserted or is likely to be asserted by an NPE.

3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — present. David Baehr of Law Office of David Baehr is listed as the correspondent for all three recorded assignments on 2024-04-19 (Reel 059952/0157, 059952/0158, and 059952/0159).

4. Cascading transfers — present. All three assignments from the inventors to Resource Consortium Limited, then to Resource Consortium Limited, LLC, and finally to SitNet LLC, were executed and recorded on the same day, 2024-04-19 (Reel 059952/0157, 059952/0158, 059952/0159). This rapid sequence of transfers to different entities, all handled by the same correspondent, is a strong signal.

5. Pre-litigation transfer — present. The patent was granted on 2025-02-25. Litigation began with a US case filed in New York Southern District Court, and a PTAB case IPR2026-00111 filed. While the exact filing date of the district court case is not precisely specified in relation to the assignment dates, the assignment chain was completed in April 2024, nearly a year before the patent was granted in February 2025, and well before the known litigation began in 2026. The rapid chain of assignments occurring before issuance and before recorded litigation indicates preparation for assertion.

6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. There is no indication in the provided information of the original assignee filing for bankruptcy.

7. Privateering — unclear. There is no information provided to suggest an operating company transferred the patent to an NPE for assertion on its behalf.

8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. While Unified Patents is involved in challenging the patent, the chain does not end with a defensive aggregator as an assignee.

Verdict

NPE — high confidence. The presence of cascading transfers (Reel 059952/0157, 059952/0158, 059952/0159, all on 2024-04-19), a repeat correspondent (David Baehr on all 2024-04-19 assignments), and pre-litigation transfers (assignments completed in April 2024, well before the patent issued in Feb 2025 and litigation in 2026) are strong indicators. Furthermore, the involvement of Unified Patents in challenging the patent suggests it is being asserted by an NPE.

View assignment records on USPTO Assignment Center

The patent US12238815B2, titled "Method and system for using a situational network," was filed on April 18, 2024, and published on February 25, 2025. Its earliest priority date is February 2, 2007. The invention generally describes a computer-implemented method and system for establishing and managing a situational network where a situation authority interacts with users, each having a personal information aggregator (PIA), to distribute and propagate information related to a specific event or situation.

A review of the "Prior art citations" for US12238815B2 on Google Patents reveals 22 cited documents. Upon examining the priority dates of these citations, it becomes apparent that many are U.S. patent applications that share the exact same priority date (February 2, 2007) as US12238815B2. These documents (e.g., US20080275811A1, US20080183570A1, US20090287707A1, etc.) are likely part of the same patent family (e.g., continuations, divisionals, or related applications by the same inventors/assignee) and therefore do not serve as anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102 against the claims of US12238815B2, as they do not predate its effective priority date.

The most relevant prior art for anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 among the listed citations is US7409440B2, as its earliest priority date (May 18, 2004) predates that of US12238815B2 (February 2, 2007).

Most Relevant Prior Art Citation for US12238815B2

1. US7409440B2

• Full Citation: US7409440B2, Cona et al., "Method and system for providing context-aware information to a user in a social network environment", granted August 5, 2008.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed: August 5, 2005. Granted: August 5, 2008. Earliest Priority: May 18, 2004.
• Brief Description: This patent describes a method and system for providing information to a user within a social network environment. The information is delivered based on the user's relationships with other network users, which can be defined across multiple dimensions (e.g., family, friendship, professional) and characterized by an affinity attribute. Information can be provided on-demand, pushed, or via ongoing subscription.
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102:
  • The independent claims of US12238815B2 (Claims 1, 12, 20) are directed to a "situational network" that is "established based on an occurrence of an event or situation," involves a "situation authority," and explicitly details the situation authority's role in "distributing," "receiving," and "propagating" information related to the event or situation. Each user in US12238815B2 also has a "personal information aggregator (PIA)."
  • US7409440B2 describes a "social network environment" and "context-aware information," discussing relationships and affinity. However, it does not explicitly disclose the specific elements of a "situational network" dynamically established in response to an event or situation, nor the specialized role of a "situation authority" performing event-specific information management as defined in US12238815B2. While it discusses social networks and providing information, it does not appear to teach or suggest all elements of the independent claims of US12238815B2, particularly the core inventive concept of a network formed situationally and managed by an authority for event-specific information propagation. Therefore, US7409440B2 does not appear to fully anticipate any of the independent claims (1, 12, 20) of US12238815B2 based on its abstract and general description. A detailed claim-by-claim analysis would be required to definitively assess anticipation, but based on the provided summaries, it lacks key elements.

Non-Anticipatory Cited Documents (Share same priority date as US12238815B2)

The following documents are cited as prior art in US12238815B2 but share the same earliest priority date (February 2, 2007) as US12238815B2. As such, they are not considered anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102 against the claims of US12238815B2, but rather represent related filings within the same patent family. Therefore, detailed anticipation analysis for these documents is not provided.

• US20080275811A1 - System and method for managing personal information using a personal information aggregator
• US20080275727A1 - Multi-dimensional personal information network
• US20080183570A1 - System and method for using a situational network
• US20090287707A1 - Method and system for displaying targeted advertisements in a social network
• US20090209230A1 - System and method for providing information to multiple users based on affinity
• US20090177531A1 - System and method for using a personal information aggregator and a social network in emergency situations
• US20090144131A1 - Method and system for using an N-dimensional social network for disaster relief
• US20090099885A1 - System and method for managing information with a personal information aggregator
• US20090048866A1 - System and method for using a personal information aggregator to provide financial information
• US20090030761A1 - System and method for forming a network based on affinity
• US20090030737A1 - System and method for providing emergency information to users in a situational network
• US20080281699A1 - System and method for displaying targeted advertisements in a social network
• US20080275747A1 - System and method for forming a network based on affinity
• US20080275746A1 - System and method for creating a projected view of an N-dimensional social network
• US20080275726A1 - System and method for providing targeted advertisements in a situational network
• US20080262886A1 - System and method for providing emergency information to users in a situational network
• US20080262846A1 - System and method for providing common travel routes to users in a situational network
• US20080262845A1 - System and method for managing the distribution of limited goods and services in a situational network
• US20080262799A1 - System and method for providing information on commercial travel routes to users in a situational network
• US20080262798A1 - System and method for a situational network for emergency situations
• US20080262797A1 - System and method for a roll call or check-in feature in a situational network

The request asks for an obviousness analysis of US patent 12238815 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, requiring the identification of combinations of prior art references that would render the claims obvious, along with a motivation for combining them.

The provided "Prior Art section" of the US12238815B2 Google Patents page contains "Prior art keywords: node, event, user, network, information" and a "Prior art date: 2007-02-02". However, this section does not list any specific prior art documents (e.g., patents, publications, or other disclosures) that predate the priority date.

Without specific prior art references to combine, a detailed obviousness analysis as requested, which requires identifying and explaining the combination of such references, cannot be performed. Therefore, I am unable to fulfill this part of the task.