Invalidity dossier
US 206103
Improvement in buttons and studs
Added 9/23/2026, 9:31:20 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 206,103
Title: Improvement in Buttons and Studs
Patentee: Carl E. S. Gederen, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Patent date: July 16, 1878
Application filed: April 29, 1878
Publication number: US206103A
Legal status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration July 16, 1895
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US206103](/patent/US206103)/en
Purpose. The specification states the invention "relates to certain improvements in buttons, shirt-studs, and other like articles," with two stated objects: to provide a means for readily securing a covering to the head of the button, and to provide for securing the button to the fabric without sewing.
Plain-language scope. The button comprises a top disk (A) with a hollow, internally screw-threaded central shank (B); a cloth covering (C) folded under the top disk; a slightly dished clamping disk (D) with a projecting sleeve (d) that fits over the shank and presses the cloth edge against the top disk; and a bottom fastening disk (E) with a centrally projecting screw-threaded stem (o) that passes through an aperture or eyelet (h) in the fabric (g) and screws into the shank, trapping the fabric between disk E and the end of sleeve d. An optional filling-piece may govern the contour of the button's top surface. In the modification of Figs. 4–5, the shank carries an external as well as an internal thread, and the sleeve is internally threaded to engage it, so the clamping disk can hold the covering independently of the button's attachment to a garment. The covering may be replaced or the button transferred between garments by detaching and reassembling the parts.
Claim. The single claim covers, in combination with the top disk having a projecting screw-threaded shank and the bottom disk with a screw-threaded stem, the intermediate detachable cover-clamping disk constructed with a projecting sleeve forming a bearing upon which to button an article and surrounding the top disk's shank, substantially as shown and described.
Not established by this excerpt. The excerpt does not identify an assignee, does not establish that the listed "Expired – Lifetime" status reflects a legal conclusion, and does not supply a filing serial number. No litigation, ownership transfers, validity analysis, or prior-art comparisons are addressed here.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:34:15 PM
Cases on file (0)
Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 206103. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
No cases on file mention this patent. Upload a CSV or add a case manually in Admin → Manage litigation cases.
Litigation summary
Past and pending lawsuits — plaintiffs, defendants, jurisdictions, outcomes, and notable rulings.
Proceedings on file (0)
All PTAB activity →AIA trial proceedings (IPR / PGR / CBM) filed at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board against this patent. Sourced from the USPTO Open Data Portal and refreshed every six hours; each proceeding number deep-links to the PTAB E2E docket.
No PTAB proceedings on file. This patent has not been challenged via IPR, PGR, or CBM. The absence is itself a signal — well-asserted patents eventually attract IPRs. The LLM analysis below may surface filings the ODP feed hasn’t indexed yet.
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
Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.
Obviousness
Combinations of prior art that suggest the claimed invention would have been obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Extensions
Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.
Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.