Invalidity dossier
US 5975791
Vehicle security gate apparatus and method of operating same
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/24/2026, 1:54:29 AM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 5,975,791 A
Title: Vehicle security gate apparatus and method of operating same
Patent number / application: US 5,975,791 A; Application US 08/807,257
Inventor / Assignee: G. Wallace McCulloch; Original Assignee and Current Assignee listed as "Individual" (Google's listed assignees "may be inaccurate")
Key dates: Priority/filing date 1997-03-04; granted and published 1999-11-02; anticipated expiration 2017-03-04; legal status "Expired – Fee Related." A later PCT filing (PCT/US1999/010234, WO2000068510A1) is listed with a 1999-05-11 priority entry.
Purpose: The patent addresses security gates for preventing or inhibiting people and vehicles from entering protected areas. It notes that criminal or terrorist attempts can include a vehicle running through or ramming a flimsy barrier, and that more substantial barricades have been erected in response. The invention aims to arrest or suddenly stop vehicles from undesired access, responding with a force corresponding to the force of the ramming vehicle (per the excerpt's stated advantages).
Plain-language scope: A barricade sits adjacent a roadway and rotates about a predetermined axis among three positions: a vehicle passage position (desired vehicles may pass), a vehicle blocking position (blocks the roadway), and a vehicle arresting position (arrests an undesired vehicle when it attempts to ram the barricade in the blocking position). The axis may extend generally transverse or generally parallel to the roadway plane. The barricade includes vehicle-arresting means; on ramming, its distal end rotates outward away from the vehicle while the proximal end, bearing the arresting means, rotates inward into contact with the vehicle to arrest it. An embodiment uses a pair of spaced-apart barricades on opposing roadway sides, each with its own rotating means. Methods of operating the barricade through these positions are also described.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5975791/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It contains no claim text (only a mention that 22 words appear under "claims"), no full description, no drawings reference numerals, and no prior-art citations or listed references. It does not establish litigation, ownership transfers, validity, or the specifics of any claims. Classifications shown are E01F13/12, E01F13/04, E01F13/08, and E01F13/123.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:31:00 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
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Obviousness
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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.