Prior art

US patent 9116908B2, titled "System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval," lists several patent applications and granted patents that are highly relevant to its subject matter, primarily through a chain of continuation applications and one patent disclosing the specific compression techniques employed.

The patent US9116908B2 states it is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,419, filed on Oct. 26, 2006, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/628,795, filed on Jul. 28, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,130,913), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/266,394 filed on Mar. 11, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,104). All of these are incorporated by reference. Additionally, U.S. Ser. No. 09/210,491, titled “Content Independent Data Compression Method and System,” filed on Dec. 11, 1998, is also incorporated by reference as disclosing the compression/decompression techniques used.

Here is an analysis of the most relevant prior art references:

Most Relevant Prior Art for US9116908B2

1. U.S. Patent 6,601,104

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent 6,601,104, titled "System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval," issued July 29, 2003, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/266,394.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 11, 1999; Granted on July 29, 2003.
• Brief Description: This patent describes systems and methods for improving data storage and retrieval bandwidth using lossless data compression and decompression. It includes steps for receiving a data stream at an input rate greater than a storage device's rate, compressing it, storing it, retrieving the compressed data, and decompressing it to provide an output rate greater than the access rate. It also covers adapting compression/decompression ratios to match data rates for continuous operation. This patent is the earliest granted patent in the direct continuation chain of US9116908B2, sharing the same core inventive concept.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As U.S. Patent 6,601,104 is a direct parent patent in the continuation chain to US9116908B2 (via intermediate applications), it establishes the priority date for the common subject matter. It generally would not "anticipate" claims in US9116908B2 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 for the same invention but rather provides the basis for priority. Any claims in US9116908B2 that are identical to or directly and fully encompassed by the claims of US6601104 would rely on the priority date of US6601104 for validity. If US9116908B2 contains claims to new subject matter or broader scope not fully disclosed or enabled by US6601104, then US6601104 could theoretically be prior art to those specific new aspects under § 102, although this is less common in a direct continuation context.

2. U.S. Patent 7,130,913

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent 7,130,913, titled "System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval," issued October 31, 2006, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/628,795.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed on July 28, 2003; Granted on October 31, 2006.
• Brief Description: This patent details systems and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval through lossless data compression and decompression, aiming to increase the effective data storage and retrieval bandwidth of memory devices. It focuses on compression ratios equal to or greater than the ratio of input data rate to storage rate for continuous storage, and decompression ratios equal to or greater than the ratio of data access rate to maximum accepted output rate for optimal retrieval. This patent is a direct continuation of US6601104 and a parent application to US9116908B2, reflecting the ongoing development of the core invention.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to US6601104, U.S. Patent 7,130,913 is part of the direct continuation chain leading to US9116908B2. It establishes priority for the subject matter claimed in US9116908B2 that is also disclosed in US7130913. It is generally not anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102 for the claims in US9116908B2 that are supported by the disclosures of these earlier applications, as they essentially represent the same inventive entity pursuing the same invention through a series of applications.

3. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,419

• Full Citation: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,419, filed October 26, 2006.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed on October 26, 2006. (This application matured into US9116908B2 as its direct parent application).
• Brief Description: This application is explicitly stated as the direct parent continuation of U.S. Patent 9,116,908 B2. It would therefore describe the same or substantially similar "System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval," encompassing the use of lossless compression and decompression to enhance data storage and retrieval bandwidth.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As the direct parent application in the continuation chain, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,419 serves to provide the priority basis for the claims of US9116908B2. It would generally not anticipate the claims of US9116908B2 under 35 U.S.C. § 102, but rather demonstrate that the claimed invention was fully disclosed and enabled at an earlier date.

4. U.S. Patent 6,345,108 B1

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent 6,345,108 B1, titled "Content independent data compression method and system," issued February 5, 2002, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/210,491.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed on December 11, 1998; Granted on February 5, 2002.
• Brief Description: This patent discloses specific lossless data compression and decompression techniques. US9116908B2 explicitly states that "the present invention employs the data compression/decompression techniques disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 09/210,491". This indicates that US6345108B1 provides the underlying compression technology utilized within the broader system for accelerated data storage and retrieval described in US9116908B2.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): U.S. Patent 6,345,108 B1 is prior art to US9116908B2. If any claims in US9116908B2 broadly claim the specific data compression or decompression methods themselves (as opposed to the system and method for accelerated storage and retrieval that uses such methods), then those specific claims could potentially be anticipated by US6345108B1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102. However, since US9116908B2 focuses on the acceleration system and method leveraging these techniques, the claims of US9116908B2 are more likely to be a combination of components or steps, where the compression/decompression is a component or a step. If the claims of US9116908B2 define a novel combination or application of these known compression techniques in the context of accelerated data storage/retrieval, they would likely distinguish over US6345108B1. Without a detailed claim comparison, it's difficult to pinpoint exact anticipatory claims.