Invalidity dossier
US 3892959
Added 9/23/2026, 2:35:41 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 3,892,959 A
Title: Edge-lighted panel arrangement. Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US3892959/en
Inventor: Eduard J. Pulles. Original assignee: GTE Automatic Electric Laboratories Inc. A later assignment record (1989-02-28) names AG Communication Systems Corporation, Phoenix, AZ; Google notes assignee listings may be inaccurate. Filing/priority date: 1973-11-02. Publication (grant): 1975-07-01. Application number: US 412,237. Status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 1992-07-01).
Purpose and plain-language scope. The patent addresses edge-lighting of instrument dials, panels, plotting boards, and similar devices, where light from sources at a transparent panel's edge is introduced into the panel for transillumination and indirect illumination. The stated aim is a convenient, low-cost lighting method using contemporary components. A length of flat flexible wiring or circuit, having electrical conductor(s) imbedded in flexible plastic and light emitting diodes (LEDs) affixed and electrically coupled to it, snaps onto the panel. The panel's peripheral edge has spaced recessed cavities (semi-circular as illustrated) receiving the LEDs, plus projections (20); the flexible circuit has openings (22) shaped to snap-fit over them. The panel may be acrylic (Plexiglas or Lucite); its bottom surface is preferably mirrored opaque, its upper surface translucent and diffusing. Terminals (25) at one or both ends connect to a power source. The flexible circuit is preferably removable, allowing lighting to be quickly removed and replaced merely by removing and re-snap-fitting a new length.
The excerpt includes claim-like language: a transparent light-transmitting panel with front and rear surfaces arranged for specular reflection and a marginal portion having spaced openings for light sources and spaced fastening means; a length of flexible material carrying conductor means and complementary fasteners; and light sources so positioned as to be disposed within the openings when affixed, whereby edge-lighting is provided by affixing the flexible material and coupling the conductor means to power.
What the excerpt does not establish. The itemized claim set, claim numbering, dependency, and full claim language; the complete description and drawings; and the exact count of listed prior-art patents (only 3,027,669; 3,070,913; and 3,356,839 appear). No litigation, ownership validity, or prior-art analysis is inferred.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:52:08 PM
Cases on file (0)
Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 3892959. 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.