Invalidity dossier
US 7362351
Method, system and device for detecting an object proximate to a water/air type interface
Current assignee: Vision IQ
Added 9/23/2026, 11:52:00 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 7,362,351 B2
Title: Method, system and device for detecting an object proximate to a water/air type interface
Assignee: Vision IQ (original and current assignee, per the supplied source)
Inventors: Jerome Meniere, Martin Lefebure, Frederic Guichard, Christophe Migliorini
Key dates:
- Priority date: 2000-12-06 (priority claimed from FR0015803A and FR0015805A)
- Filing date: 2001-12-05
- Publication of application US20040036766A1: 2004-02-26
- Grant/publication of US7362351B2: 2008-04-22
- Legal status: Expired – Lifetime; adjusted expiration 2023-10-15
Purpose (plain-language scope):
The patent concerns detecting an object in a zone near an interface between two liquid and/or gaseous media with different refractive indices—"especially an interface of the water/air type." "In the proximity of" also means "at the interface." Stated problems include discriminating objects on either side of the interface and detecting stationary objects.
The described method: creates at least one video image of the interface/zone from an observation point situated on one side; produces electrical signals; digitizes them into data; and processes the data while discriminating the real object's video image from the apparent image generated by the interface. A polarizing filter may at least partly eliminate reflections. Two non-exclusive embodiments are named—"branch 1" (calottes) and "branch 2" (primitives associated with each pixel).
Additional stages include iterating detection at intervals, counting detections over a period T1, and classifying objects versus thresholds S1 (stationary vs. moving). A mean gray-level fluctuation per unit time distinguishes among thresholds S3, S4, and between them: objects beyond the interface, on the same side, or at the interface, respectively. Stereoscopic analysis of a stationary object and warning-signal emission are also described. Four applications are named: tripping an alarm for a submerged stationary object (e.g., a swimmer too long underwater); statistical occupancy estimation; trajectory estimation; and detecting disappearance of an object from the monitored zone.
What the excerpt does not establish:
The full text is excerpted/truncated, so claim numbering, claim scope, dependent claims, and omitted passages are not established. No specification details, drawings, or prosecution history are supplied. Nothing here establishes validity, enforceability, litigation, or ownership transfers.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:32:16 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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PTAB challenges
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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
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