Invalidity dossier
US 746446
Added 9/23/2026, 7:28:26 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 746446
Title: Convertible Chair and Couch
Patent number: US 746446A
Inventor: Frederick S. Bown, of Charleston, County of Kanawha, West Virginia, a U.S. citizen.
Assignee: None named in the supplied text; the record lists "Individual" as original and current assignee.
Dates: Application filed January 14, 1903 (Serial No. 139,005); patent granted and published December 8, 1903. Priority date: January 14, 1903. Anticipated expiration: December 8, 1920.
Classification: A47C17/00, A47C17/04, A47C17/16, A47C17/20, A47C17/207 (chairs, sofas, beds; seating changeable to beds).
Purpose: The invention relates to a convertible chair and couch whose parts are repositioned so the structure may be used as an easy or reclining chair or as a couch on which a person may recline, with adjustments secured "without disconnecting" any of the components.
Plain-language scope (from the described embodiment and claims): The structure has a seat-frame (A) with legs; a movable seat member (C) hinged at the front edge of the seat-frame; a movable back (D) hinged to the frame's rear portion; and two sectional (divided) arms, each made of members (E, F) divided on a diagonal line. Arm member E folds forward with the seat member and is made fast to it; arm member F folds backward to support the lowered back. Front and rear legs carry curved recesses/faces (b, I) forming arm-seats on which curved bars (e, f) of the arm members rest, so the unfolded arms and seat are supported by the seat-frame, not the floor. Overlapping tongues (h, i) and a catch (I) hold the arm members in matching relation when folded into an arm-rest; retaining-blocks (J) with tongues (j) on the back engage the arm members F. Plates (K) with hooks (k) receive an adjustable rod (L) to hold the back at selected inclinations. The specification also describes upholstered surfaces on the back, seat-frame, and both sides of the movable seat member.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US746446/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It gives no information on litigation, ownership transfers, validity, or prior art beyond the listed classification and "Prior art keywords." It does not show the drawing figures (referenced as Figs. 1–4), the full claim set, or any prosecution history; the reference numerals appear only as transcribed and may be garbled in the excerpt.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:42:02 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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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.