US 7634409

Here's a concise summary of US Patent 7634409:

US Patent 7634409: Dynamic Speech Sharpening

• Title: Dynamic speech sharpening
• Current Assignee: Dialect LLC
• Inventors: Robert A. Kennewick, Min Ke, Michael Tjalve, Philippe Di Cristo
• Filing Date: August 31, 2006
• Issue Date: December 15, 2009
• Abstract: An enhanced system for speech interpretation is provided. The system receives a user verbalization and generates preliminary interpretations by identifying phonemes. An acoustic grammar maps these phonemes to syllables or words and includes linking elements to reduce the search space. Post-processing techniques then sharpen the accuracy of these preliminary interpretations. A heuristic model assigns weights to parameters based on context, user profile, or other domain knowledge. A probable interpretation is identified based on a confidence score from a set of candidate interpretations generated by the heuristic model. The model can be augmented or updated using information related to the verbalization's interpretation.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (Method Claim):
  This claim describes a method for providing out-of-vocabulary (OOV) interpretation and noise tolerance for natural language speech. It involves:

  1. Receiving a user's spoken utterance.
  2. An electronic device recognizing the individual sound units (phonemes) within that utterance.
  3. Mapping these recognized phonemes to a specialized acoustic grammar that represents syllables. This mapping results in a series of these phonemically represented syllables.
  4. Generating at least one interpretation of the utterance, which specifically includes this series of syllables mapped from the recognized phonemes.

• Independent Claim 9 (System Claim):
  This claim describes a system designed for out-of-vocabulary (OOV) interpretation and noise tolerance in natural language speech. The system comprises:

  1. At least one input device (e.g., a microphone) that captures a user's utterance and converts it into an electronic signal.
  2. A speech interpretation engine that receives this electronic signal. This engine is capable of:
     • Recognizing the stream of phonemes within the utterance.
     • Mapping these recognized phonemes to an acoustic grammar that phonemically represents syllables, resulting in a series of these syllables.
     • Generating at least one interpretation of the utterance, which contains the series of syllables derived from the phoneme stream.

CAFC 2026 Dockets:

A search of the CAFC 2026 dockets for US patent 7634409 does not return any specific entries. The provided search results for "CAFC 2026 dockets 7634409" only show general links to scheduled cases for April, May, and June 2026, without specific case numbers or patent affiliations. Therefore, I cannot authoritatively confirm any active litigation in the CAFC for this patent in 2026 based on the provided search. The Google Patents information for US7634409 notes "Family has litigation," with "PTAB case IPR2025-01229 filed (Settlement)" and "US case filed in Texas Eastern District Court" (2:24-cv-01067) mentioned, but these are not CAFC dockets for 2026 and are outside the specific scope of the request for CAFC 2026 dockets.