Invalidity dossier
US 7404661
Light emitting panel assemblies
Current assignee: Innovative Display Technologies LLC
Added 9/23/2026, 12:53:55 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US7404661B2 — Patent Overview
Title: Light emitting panel assemblies
Patent number: US7404661B2
Application number: US11/626,943
Inventors: Jeffrey R. Parker, Gregory A. Coghlan, Robert M. Ezell
Original assignee: Solid State Opto Ltd
Current assignee (as listed): Innovative Display Technologies LLC
Priority date: 1995-06-27 (claimed from US08/495,176)
Filing date: 2007-01-25
Publication date: 2008-07-29
Status: Expired – Fee Related; anticipated expiration 2015-06-27
Purpose / plain-language scope (from the excerpt):
The patent relates to light emitting panel assemblies built around a light guide (a planar or plate-like light guide) that receives light from a light source. Per the classification entries, the subject matter covers means for improving coupling of light from the light source into the light guide — including features provided on the surface of, or in the bulk of, the light guide — and redirecting means on the light guide surface. The recurring "prior art keywords" in the record are light, deformities, assembly, light guide, panel, indicating the assemblies use deformities (surface or bulk features) to redirect/extract light. Classification also places the disclosure in illuminated signs/luminous advertising (G09F13/00) and refractors for light sources (F21V5/00, F21V5/10 photoluminescent).
Claim scope: The excerpt does not reproduce any claims; claim language and breadth cannot be confirmed from the supplied text.
What the excerpt does not establish:
- The full specification, drawings, or claims.
- The exact nature, geometry, or arrangement of the "deformities."
- Priority-chain validity or the content of US08/495,176.
- Ownership-transfer effects, litigation, or prior-art references beyond keyword listings (not analyzed here per instructions).
- Any embodiments, materials, or dimensions.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US7404661](/patent/US7404661)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:53:25 PM
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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.
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.