Invalidity dossier
US 5467434
Apparatus and method for determining printer option availability and representing conflict resolution in a combination of print job selections
Current assignee: Xerox Corp
Added 9/17/2026, 1:29:14 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 5,467,434 A
Title: "Apparatus and method for determining printer option availability and representing conflict resolution in a combination of print job selections"
Assignee: Xerox Corp (original assignee; assignment recorded 1992-08-28)
Inventors: John D. Hower, Jr.; Michael L. Campanella
Key dates:
- Priority/filing: 1992-08-28 (application US07/936,477)
- Publication/grant: 1995-11-14
- Legal status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 2012-11-14)
- Foreign counterparts noted: JP, MX, DE, EP, BR
Purpose and plain-language scope:
The patent addresses a networked printing system in which multiple client workstations send print jobs to a bank of printers with differing capabilities. A user at a remote client programs a combination of print job selections (e.g., via an on-screen "job ticket"). The invention compares the programmed combination against a selected "printer profile" — a stored list of printer properties available at a given printer — and transmits the job to that printer only when the selections correspond to the available properties. The disclosed arrangement includes an input section with programming means, a memory storing the selected printer profile, and a comparing means. The description further covers printer profiles including media description parameters and finishing-option rules, decision-tree representations, and a comparison/evaluation program, with the aim of preventing a user from programming the printer with an unavailable combination and of representing conflict resolution.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5467434/en
What the excerpt does not establish:
The supplied text is explicitly marked "[Excerpt only; consult the source for omitted text.]" and is incomplete. It provides no verbatim claim language, so the precise metes and bounds of the claims cannot be stated. It also does not establish the full specification, all drawing contents, the complete list of cited prior art, prosecution history, or any findings on validity or infringement. Descriptions of structure and function above reflect the summary/abstract-style text and figure listings as given, not the omitted portions.
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:03:11 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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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.