Invalidity dossier
US 4977594
Added 9/23/2026, 5:00:34 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US4977594A — Database usage metering and protection system and method
Title: Database usage metering and protection system and method
Inventor: Victor H. Shear
Original/Current Assignee (as listed): Electronic Publishing Resources Inc
Application number: US07/310,938
Filing date: 1989-02-16
Publication/grant date: 1990-12-11
Priority date (as listed): 1986-10-14
Legal status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration 2007-12-11
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US4977594](/patent/US4977594)/en
Purpose
The patent addresses regulating usage of a computer database. It aims to prevent unauthorized use and copying of an electronic digital information database while measuring authorized users' utilization, for billing and copyright-royalty purposes. It presents the invention as enabling low-cost licensing and usage-based fees for CD-ROM and related optical/bubble-memory publishing.
Plain-language scope (per the excerpt)
A storage medium holds the database in encrypted form plus index information correlating encrypted portions with index keys. A host digital signal processor is preprogramed to generate an access request, read the index information, identify the encrypted portions satisfying the request, and read them. A secure decoder control logic device coupled to the host processor decrypts those portions and returns decrypted information to the host. That decoder device also measures quantity/parameters of decrypted information usage and stores measurements in a non-volatile (often tamperproof) memory. Usage records are periodically conveyed to a central billing facility, either by sending a replaceable memory module or by telecommunications. The system can disable further decryption after predetermined events (module expiration, excessive usage suggesting copying, or copying more than a specified percentage/contiguous portion), and supports multi-level coded security access. It may include means preventing tampering with the memory or decoder logic.
What the excerpt does not establish
The provided text is explicitly marked as an excerpt with omitted text, and contains no claims, drawings, detailed description, or prior-art citations. It therefore does not establish the actual claim scope, the number/content of claims, specific embodiments, or priority/assignment details beyond the listing. The assignee, dates, and legal status are presented as listings/assumptions, not legal conclusions.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:43:57 PM
Cases on file (0)
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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.