Invalidity dossier
US 6699125
Game server for use in connection with a messenger server
Current assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc
Added 9/23/2026, 12:31:46 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-v4-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US6699125B2
Title: "Game server for use in connection with a messenger server"
Patent number / application: US6699125B2; Application US09/898,746, filed 2001-07-02.
Inventors: Chris Kirmse and Brian Gottlieb.
Assignee history in the record: Originally assigned to Yahoo! Inc. (assignment recorded 2002-01-08). The source lists the current assignee as Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc, with intermediate reassignments to Yahoo Holdings, Oath, and Verizon Media. Google notes these assignee listings "may be inaccurate."
Key dates: Priority date 2000-07-03 (stated as an assumption, not a legal conclusion); publication of US20020086732A1 on 2002-07-04; patent granted/publication 2004-03-02. Legal status: Expired – Lifetime, adjusted expiration 2021-11-28.
Purpose (from the supplied definitions): The invention "relates to the use of a game server in connection with a messenger server in a multi-user networked computing environment." The background notes that the Internet facilitated communication via email and instant messaging, and that instant messaging allows users connected to the Internet to communicate in real time; a first user downloads an instant message program that can invoke a window with a section for typing messages.
Plain-language scope (from what the excerpt establishes): The disclosed approach couples a game server with a messenger server so users of a multi-user networked environment (the Internet) can engage in game-related activity alongside instant-messaging communication. Classification entries are consistent with this: A63F13/87 (communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat), H04L51/04 (real-time/near-real-time messaging, instant messaging), A63F2300/556 (player lists, e.g. online players, buddy list), and A63F2300/572 (communication between players of non-game information).
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US6699125](/patent/US6699125)/en (fetched 2026-09-23).
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not include the claims, detailed description, drawings, or any prior-art references, so the precise claimed scope, claim limitations, and embodiments cannot be stated. It also does not establish litigation, the accuracy of assignee/legal-status data, or validity.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:53:33 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.