Prior art — US Patent 8327051B2

Analysis of Prior Art for U.S. Patent 8,327,051 B2

The following analysis details the most relevant prior art cited against U.S. Patent 8,327,051 B2. This information is critical for understanding the novelty and non-obviousness of the patent's claims. Each cited reference is examined for its potential to anticipate the claims of the '051 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Key Prior Art and Potential Anticipation of Claims:

The '051 patent discloses a portable handheld memory card with both a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port and a second input/output (I/O) port (such as a Secure Digital port) on the same end, allowing for a single insertion direction. The invention also includes on-board circuitry for decompression and decryption of data. The following prior art references are most pertinent to these claims.

1. US Patent 7,287,703 B2: "Removable memory cards including USB and other controllers, connectors, and methods of operating same"

Full Citation: US Patent 7,287,703 B2
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Filing Date: July 23, 2003
Brief Description: This patent describes a removable memory card that includes both a standard memory card interface (like SD or MMC) and a USB interface. It details a controller that can detect which interface is connected to a host device and route data accordingly. The physical arrangement of the connectors is a key focus.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference appears to be highly relevant to Claim 1 of the '051 patent. Claim 1 requires a USB port and an I/O port on the same end for a single insertion direction, a memory, a housing, and separate controller circuitry for each port. The '703 patent discloses a very similar physical arrangement and dual-controller architecture. Specifically, it describes a memory card with dual interfaces, which could be interpreted as anticipating the core structural and functional elements of Claim 1. The specific language in Claim 1 regarding the non-connection of one port's pins when the other is in use is also a feature that could be inherently present in the design disclosed in the '703 patent.

2. US Patent 7,376,773 B2: "Multi-standard protocol storage devices and methods of operating the same"

Full Citation: US Patent 7,376,773 B2
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Publication Date: May 20, 2008
Filing Date: July 4, 2003
Brief Description: This patent details a storage device that supports multiple communication protocols, such as USB and a memory card standard. It includes a host interface that can automatically detect the type of host it is connected to and communicate using the appropriate protocol.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: The '773 patent is relevant to method claims such as Claim 16. Claim 16 describes a method of reading data from memory, determining whether the data should be transmitted via the USB or I/O port, and then transmitting it. The '773 patent's disclosure of a multi-protocol device that can detect the host interface and select the appropriate communication method appears to anticipate this claimed method.

3. US Patent Application Publication 2006/0084287 A1: "Memory card with two standard sets of contacts and a contact covering mechanism"

Full Citation: US 2006/0084287 A1
Assignee: Robert C. Miller
Publication Date: April 20, 2006
Filing Date: April 16, 2004
Brief Description: This application describes a memory card with two different sets of electrical contacts for interfacing with different types of host devices. It also includes a mechanism to cover the set of contacts that is not in use to prevent electrical shorts or damage.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference could be seen as anticipating the final clauses of Claim 1, which state that when one port is electrically connected, at least one pin of the other port is not. The '287 application's explicit disclosure of a mechanism to prevent the unused contacts from making a connection provides a direct teaching of this limitation. This could be a strong piece of prior art against the novelty of this specific feature of Claim 1.

4. US Patent 7,433,994 B2: "On-device data compression to increase speed and capacity of flash memory-based mass storage devices"

Full Citation: US Patent 7,433,994 B2
Assignee: OCZ Technology Group, Inc.
Publication Date: October 7, 2008
Filing Date: December 7, 2004
Brief Description: This patent discloses a flash memory storage device that includes a processor for performing on-the-fly data compression and decompression. This is intended to increase the effective storage capacity and data transfer speed of the device.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This patent is particularly relevant to Claim 3 and the method Claim 9, which introduce decompression circuitry and the method of decompressing data on the card itself. The '994 patent's core teaching is the integration of a compression/decompression engine directly onto a memory device. This could be argued to anticipate the inventive concept of including "decompression circuitry" as claimed in the '051 patent. Similarly, it could anticipate the method steps of reading compressed data and decompressing it on the card, as recited in Claim 9.

5. US Patent Application Publication 2002/0186842 A1: "System, method, and device for playing back recorded audio, video or other content from non-volatile memory cards, compact disks, or other media"

Full Citation: US 2002/0186842 A1
Assignee: SanDisk Corporation (the original assignee of the '051 patent)
Publication Date: December 12, 2002
Filing Date: December 7, 2000
Brief Description: This application describes a system where encrypted or protected content is stored on a memory card, and the card itself contains the necessary hardware or software to decrypt the content for playback. This allows the content to be played on a simple playback device that does not have its own decryption capabilities.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference is highly relevant to Claim 2 and Claim 10, which add the limitation of "decryption circuitry" and the method of decrypting data. The '842 application, from the same original assignee, discloses the concept of moving the decryption process onto the memory card itself. This would be a strong indication that the idea of on-card decryption was known in the art before the '051 patent's priority date.