Invalidity dossier
US 7515708
Privacy case for telephones
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/17/2026, 2:24:10 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 7515708 B1
Title: Privacy case for telephones
Patent number / application: US 7515708 B1; Application US10/767,643
Inventors: Arthur F. Doty, III; Robert M. Turkewitz
Assignee: Individual (original assignee). The record also lists a 2010-03-17 assignment to Turkewitz, Robert M., with Doty, Arthur F., III as assignor. No other ownership information is supplied.
Key dates: Priority/filing date 2004-01-29; publication/grant date 2009-04-07; adjusted expiration 2026-06-29; status listed as "Expired – Fee Related."
Purpose: The case is a telephone container with privacy features for cellular, cordless, and corded phones. When in its position of use, it covers the user's mouth and muffles and/or blocks the user's voice beyond the case sufficiently that a conversation is unintelligible to persons in the vicinity — meaning those beyond roughly three to five feet — at least when the user speaks in a normal voice.
Plain-language scope: The case comprises a pocket with a bottom wall, opposing sidewalls, and mouth and ear end walls. The sidewalls extend beyond the phone's ends; the end walls connect to them beyond those ends. The walls rise from the bottom wall so their distal edges form an opening rim beyond the exposed phone face, extending from ear to mouth and around the mouth so the mouth is hidden. The rim may curve to follow the ear-to-mouth facial contour. Side and end walls are preferably flexible, sound-absorbing material so the rim conforms to varied faces and forms a substantial sound seal. The ear end wall may extend over or behind the ear lobe to reduce external noise. Retaining means may include a strap or open mesh net; the case may be foldable and collapsible, with pleats, lips, flaps, tabs, and snap or hook-and-loop fasteners. An aperture may admit a corded phone's cord.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7515708/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It is a partial excerpt. It does not provide the full specification, all claims, the drawings, the complete list of cited prior art, prosecution history, or litigation. The legal status, expiration, and assignee entries are expressly disclaimed by the source as assumptions or non-legal conclusions. Independent verification of dates, claim scope, and ownership would require the full patent document and official records, which are not included here.
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:03:06 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
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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