Prior art — US Patent 12409014

Anticipation Analysis of Prior Art for U.S. Patent 12,409,014

Analysis Date: May 8, 2026

This report provides an analysis of the most relevant prior art cited in U.S. Patent 12,409,014 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 (Anticipation). Anticipation requires that a single prior art reference discloses every element of a claimed invention. This analysis focuses on the independent claims of the '014 patent, which broadly cover a method of manufacturing customized orthodontic brackets using a digital workflow and additive manufacturing with specific inorganic materials.

1. U.S. Patent No. 8,694,142 B2 ("'142 Patent")

Full Citation: U.S. Patent 8,694,142 B2, "Method for producing a patient-specific orthodontic appliance," filed Nov 12, 2009; issued Apr 8, 2014. Assignee: OraMetrix, Inc.
Brief Description: The '142 patent describes a method for creating patient-specific orthodontic appliances, including brackets. The process involves obtaining a 3D digital model of the patient's dentition, virtually designing the appliance on this model, and then fabricating the appliance using a layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process, specifically selective laser melting (SLM). The material specified is a metal powder. The '014 patent explicitly acknowledges this reference in its background section, noting it teaches the creation of custom metal lingual brackets using an additive manufacturing technique.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- Potentially Anticipates: Elements related to the digital workflow and manufacturing process.
- Does Not Anticipate: The '142 patent does not anticipate the independent claims of US 12,409,014. While it discloses the core digital workflow (scan, model, design) and the use of additive manufacturing (SLM), it is explicitly limited to the use of metal materials. The claims of '014 require the bracket to be made from an inorganic material selected from "at least one of a ceramic, a polymer-derived ceramic, and a polymer-derived metal." The SLM process described in '142 uses metal powder directly, which does not constitute a "polymer-derived metal." Therefore, the '142 patent fails to disclose the specific material limitation of the '014 claims.

2. U.S. Patent No. 8,623,264 B2 ("'264 Patent")

Full Citation: U.S. Patent 8,623,264 B2, "Method and device for producing a three-dimensional object," filed Sep 29, 2011; issued Jan 7, 2014. Assignee: Lithoz GmbH.
Brief Description: The '264 patent describes a high-resolution method and apparatus for producing 3D objects from a light-polymerizable material, such as a ceramic slurry. It details a lithography-based process (similar to DLP) where successive layers of a photo-reactive suspension containing ceramic particles are selectively cured to build an object. This is cited in the '014 patent as an example of a "lithography-based DLP process" for fabricating ceramics.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- Potentially Anticipates: Elements related to the additive manufacturing process and material type (ceramic).
- Does Not Anticipate: The '264 patent does not anticipate the independent claims of US 12,409,014. While this patent provides a detailed teaching of an additive manufacturing process for ceramics (disclosing the manufacturing and material elements), it is a general-purpose method for creating any 3D object. It does not specifically describe the application of this method to orthodontics, nor does it teach the essential workflow steps of the '014 claims, such as measuring patient dentition data, creating a 3D tooth model, and designing a patient-specific orthodontic bracket based on that model. A single reference must teach all claim limitations, and the '264 patent is missing the specific orthodontic context and design workflow.

3. U.S. Patent No. 8,690,568 B2 ("'568 Patent")

Full Citation: U.S. Patent 8,690,568 B2, "Custom orthodontic brackets and related methods," filed Aug 30, 2007; issued Apr 8, 2014. Assignee: Orametrix, Inc.
Brief Description: The '568 patent discloses a method for creating a partially custom orthodontic bracket. The method involves taking a stock (non-custom) metal bracket base and a stock metal bracket archwire slot and welding them together in a custom orientation based on a patient's specific treatment plan. It does not teach the creation of a fully custom bracket from scratch.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- Potentially Anticipates: The general concept of customizing brackets for a patient.
- Does Not Anticipate: The '568 patent does not anticipate the independent claims of US 12,409,014. It fails on multiple key limitations. The manufacturing process is welding of pre-existing components, not a layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process that "directly produces" the bracket. Furthermore, the bracket base is a stock component, not one designed with a base contoured to the patient's specific tooth morphology as enabled by the '014 method. The materials are also limited to metal.

4. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0231718 A1 ("'718 Application")

Full Citation: U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2017/0231718 A1, "Methods for Additive Manufacturing of Customized Dental Restorations," filed Feb 16, 2017; published Aug 17, 2017. Applicant: The University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
Brief Description: The '718 application describes a method for creating customized dental restorations, including crowns and bridges, using additive manufacturing. The process involves obtaining a 3D image of a patient's dentition, creating a CAD model of the desired restoration, and fabricating it using a lithography-based additive manufacturing process with a ceramic slurry.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- Potentially Anticipates: This reference is highly relevant as it combines the digital workflow with ceramic additive manufacturing in a dental context.
- Does Not Anticipate: The '718 application does not anticipate the independent claims of US 12,409,014, although it is arguably the closest single piece of prior art. The key distinction is that the '718 application is directed toward dental restorations like crowns, bridges, and veneers, which replace or repair tooth structure. It does not explicitly teach or suggest the design and fabrication of orthodontic brackets, which are appliances bonded to existing teeth to apply forces for movement. An orthodontic bracket has specific functional features (e.g., an archwire slot) not found in a crown or bridge. Therefore, it fails to teach the specific step of "designing a virtual 3D CAD bracket structure model" as required by the '014 claims.

Conclusion

Based on a review of the cited prior art, no single reference anticipates the independent claims of U.S. Patent 12,409,014. While the prior art teaches elements of the claimed method in isolation—such as the digital workflow for custom metal brackets ('142 patent), the additive manufacturing of general ceramic objects ('264 patent), or ceramic additive manufacturing for dental restorations ('718 application)—no single reference discloses the complete combination of a patient-specific digital design workflow for an orthodontic bracket that is then fabricated using additive manufacturing from the specified classes of ceramic or polymer-derived materials.