Invalidity dossier
US 6958451
Apparatus and method for measuring weight of an occupying item of a seat
Current assignee: Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
Added 9/22/2026, 6:46:30 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 — US6958451B2
Title: Apparatus and method for measuring weight of an occupying item of a seat
Patent number: US6958451B2 (application US10/174,803)
Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Inc. (original and current assignee per the source; assignors David S. Breed, Wilbur E. Du Vall, Wendell C. Johnson)
Key dates: Priority date 1995-06-07; filed 2002-06-19; published as US20030056997A1 on 2003-03-27; granted 2005-10-25; adjusted expiration 2015-08-13; status listed as "Expired – Fee Related."
Purpose: The invention concerns measuring the weight of an occupying item of a seat. Its classification places it in vehicle occupant protection (B60R21/015 and subclasses) and vehicle seats with occupancy detection (B60N2/002), indicating use in detecting seat occupants and related safety parameters.
Plain-language scope: Based only on the supplied text, the patent is directed to an apparatus and a method for determining the weight of whatever occupies a seat (for example, a passenger or child seat). The excerpt does not reproduce the claims or detailed description, so the specific measuring components, sensor types, and method steps are not established here. The prior-art keywords listed (seat, weight, arrangement, occupying item, sensor) confirm the general subject matter but supply no claim language.
Family/continuity noted in the source: Priority is claimed from several earlier US applications (e.g., US08/474,783; US08/970,822; US09/128,490; US09/193,209; US09/500,346; US09/753,186; US09/767,020; US09/770,974; US09/849,558; US09/849,559), and numerous later applications claim priority to it.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US6958451](/patent/US6958451)/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide the actual claims, specification, drawings, or abstract; the precise scope, components, or embodiments; the identity of cited prior art; or the accuracy of the assignee, priority, expiry, and legal-status data, which the source itself labels as assumptions. Per the operating rules, no litigation, ownership-transfer, validity, or prior-art research was performed.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:54:17 PM
Cases on file (2)
Group view →Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 6958451. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
- 1:06-cv-00391-GMSU.S. District Court for the District of Delawareterminated May 18, 2017dismissed with prejudice
Defendants: Hyundai Motor America, BMW of North America LLC, Kia Motors America, Inc.
Other patents asserted: 6757602, 5901978, 6325414, 6422595, 6484080, 6712387, 6833516, 6850824, 6869100, 6942248
- Automotive Technologies International, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. et al.filed Mar 17, 20061:06-cv-00187-GMSU.S. District Court for the District of Delawareclosed
Defendants: American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Elesys North America Inc., General Motors Corp.
Other patents asserted: 6757602, 5901978, 6242701, 6325414, 6397136, 6422595, 6869100, 6712387, 6942248, 6950022, 6484080, 6850824
Litigation summary
Past and pending lawsuits — plaintiffs, defendants, jurisdictions, outcomes, and notable rulings.
Proceedings on file (0)
All PTAB activity →AIA trial proceedings (IPR / PGR / CBM) filed at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board against this patent. Sourced from the USPTO Open Data Portal and refreshed every six hours; each proceeding number deep-links to the PTAB E2E docket.
Current assignee: Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
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.
Keep exploring
More patents asserted by Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
- US 6757602I'll check live sources for the patent and any CAFC/appellate docket activity before summarizing. Let me pull the actual claim set for US 6,757,602 and check docket status. Let me retrieve the abstract and confirm the full…
- US 5901978Patent Overview — US 5,901,978 A Title: Method and apparatus for detecting the presence of a child seat. Patent number / application: US 5,901,978 A; application US 09/084,641. Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Inc. (original…
- US 6242701US 6,242,701 B1 — Patent Overview Title: Apparatus and method for measuring weight of an occupying item of a seat Patent number: US6242701B1 Application number: US09/193,209 Inventors: David S. Breed, Wilbur E. DuVall, Jeffrey L. Morin…
- US 6325414Patent Overview — US 6325414 B2 Title: Method and arrangement for controlling deployment of a side airbag Assignee / Original Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Inc. (later recorded as AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL…
- US 6397136Patent Overview — US 6397136 B1 Title: System for determining the occupancy state of a seat in a vehicle Patent number / application: US 6397136 B1; application US 09/474,147, filed 1999-12-29; granted/publication date 2002-05-28. Assignee…
- US 6422595Patent Overview: US6422595B1 (excerpt-based) Title: Occupant position sensor and method and arrangement for controlling a vehicular component based on an occupant's position Patent number: US6422595B1 | Application number: US09/639,299…
- US 6869100Patent Overview — US6869100B2 Title: Method and apparatus for controlling an airbag Patent number / application: US6869100B2; application US10/234,067, filed 2002-09-03; published as US20030001368A1 (2003-01-02); granted 2005-03-22…
- US 6712387Patent Overview: US 6,712,387 B1 Title: Method and apparatus for controlling deployment of a side airbag Patent number: US6712387B1 Application number: US09/437,535 Inventor(s): David S. Breed; Wilbur E. DuVall; Wendell C. Johnson…
This patent in court (2)
2 tracked lawsuits name US 6958451.