Invalidity dossier
US 5987454
Method and apparatus for selectively augmenting retrieved text, numbers, maps, charts, still pictures and/or graphics, moving pictures and/or graphics and audio information from a network resource
Current assignee: Red Hat Inc
Added 9/23/2026, 10:36:45 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 5,987,454 A
Title: "Method and apparatus for selectively augmenting retrieved text, numbers, maps, charts, still pictures and/or graphics, moving pictures and/or graphics and audio information from a network resource"
Patent number: US 5,987,454 A
Application number: US 08/871,773
Inventor: Allen Hobbs
Original assignee: Individual (per the source listing)
Priority/filing date: 1997-06-09
Grant/publication date: 1999-11-16
Current assignee (as listed): Red Hat, Inc.
Status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration 2017-06-09
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5987454/en
Purpose (from the source text): The invention concerns information retrieval and its application/deployment architecture. It describes a multi-tier client/server model for record retrieval in which records are retrieved from a database based on "embedded expert judgments" linked to words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, numbers, maps, charts, tables, still images/graphics, moving images/graphics, or audio elements (collectively "links" or "Linked Terms") contained in documents on a network resource such as a web site.
Plain-language scope: A graphical user interface correlates, through multiple frames, records retrieved from a network resource with records from one or more remote databases or Data Warehouses maintained by a company. The system also provides a means to select among various databases or Data Warehouses and a selectable index of the linked embedded expert judgments. The background discusses limitations of "pull" technology, Internet search engines (e.g., multiple irrelevant results, "dead ends," manipulated relevancy), and "push" models such as Pointcast and webcasting channels.
What the excerpt does not establish: The supplied text is explicitly an excerpt ("consult the source for omitted text"). It does not provide the full claims, the detailed description, drawing descriptions, or the complete list of references. Therefore specific claim language, claim scope, and embodiments should not be asserted from this excerpt alone. It also does not establish litigation, validity, or prior-art conclusions, and no such analysis is offered here.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:33:16 PM
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Litigation summary
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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
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Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.