Invalidity dossier
US 5835727
Method and apparatus for controlling access to services within a computer network
Current assignee: Amazon.com Inc
Added 9/24/2026, 12:01:14 AM
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 5,835,727
Title: Method and apparatus for controlling access to services within a computer network
Patent number: US5835727A | Application: US08/762,393 | Inventors: Thomas K. Wong; Sanjay R. Radia; Swee Boon Lim; Panagiotis Tsirigotis; Robert J. Goedman
Dates: Filed 1996-12-09; priority date 1996-12-09; granted/published 1998-11-10. Google Patents lists status as "Expired – Lifetime" with anticipated expiration 2016-12-09, and notes assignee listings may be inaccurate. (Assignment and litigation entries appear in the source but are outside the scope requested here.)
Purpose: The invention relates to security in computer networks, specifically access control for applications in a multiserver environment. The background describes two prior approaches — building access control into each application, and using proxy servers as middlemen — and notes proxy servers can become bottlenecks as networks grow. The stated preferred environment includes client systems (personal computers with cable modems), a cable router, server systems, and a DHCP server implementing RFC 1541.
Plain-language scope: A services management system (SMS) maintains a filtering profile for each service, each profile containing one or more filtering rules. A user logs in, is authenticated, and is assigned a sequence of filtering profiles corresponding to subscribed services. The SMS downloads that sequence to an access network control server (ANCS), which reconfigures network components (e.g., the router or the user's cable modem) to establish a packet filter for packets originating at the user's host. The filter forwards packets directed to subscribed services and discards others.
The text describes the invention as a method (providing profiles, establishing user identity, selecting profiles, establishing a packet filter) and as a computer program product with corresponding code devices.
What the excerpt does not establish: It gives no claim text, no prior-art references, no detailed description or drawings, and only a partial Figure 1 discussion. It does not establish validity, infringement, ownership status, or legal conclusions.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:32:07 PM
Cases on file (0)
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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.