Invalidity dossier
US 10338599
Pool cleaning system and method to automatically clean surfaces of a pool using images from a camera
Current assignee: Zodiac Pool Systems LLC
Added 9/24/2026, 1:01:06 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US10338599B2
Title: Pool cleaning system and method to automatically clean surfaces of a pool using images from a camera
Patent number: US10338599B2 | Application: US15/973,983 | Publication: US20180341272A1
Inventors: Kameshwar Durvasula; William Londono Correa
Assignee/ownership as listed: Originally assigned to Aqua Products, Inc.; current assignee listed as Zodiac Pool Systems LLC (the source notes listed assignees may be inaccurate and that Google has not analyzed or warranted the list).
Key dates (as stated, some noted as assumptions): Priority date 2012-07-10 (assumed); filing date 2018-05-08; publication date 2019-07-02; grant 2019-07-02; anticipated expiration 2032-07-10. Legal status listed: Active.
Purpose and plain-language scope: The patent concerns a pool cleaning system and method that uses images from a camera to automatically clean pool surfaces. Based on the cited classifications, the subject matter relates to controlling the position/course of a vehicle using optical position detecting means—specifically a video camera combined with image processing—and to extracting relative motion information from successive images (visual odometry/optical flow). It also classifies under self-propelled pool cleaners (E04H4/1654), remote-control arrangements with operator input devices and on-board camera images (tele-operation), and determining position/orientation using off-board cameras. Prior-art keywords listed include: pool, cleaner, pool surface, controller, vehicle.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US10338599](/patent/US10338599)/en
What the excerpt does not establish: The supplied text is an excerpt and omits the full specification, drawings, and claims. It therefore does not establish the actual claimed scope, claim limitations, embodiments, or how image processing specifically operates. It also does not establish prior art, validity, enforceability, or litigation outcomes. The source itself cautions that priority and legal-status dates are assumptions, and that assignee listings are not legally analyzed or warranted. Note the source references a family litigation link; consistent with instructions, no litigation details are reported here.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:31:38 PM
Cases on file (0)
Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 10338599. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
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Litigation summary
Past and pending lawsuits — plaintiffs, defendants, jurisdictions, outcomes, and notable rulings.
Proceedings on file (0)
All PTAB activity →AIA trial proceedings (IPR / PGR / CBM) filed at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board against this patent. Sourced from the USPTO Open Data Portal and refreshed every six hours; each proceeding number deep-links to the PTAB E2E docket.
No PTAB proceedings on file. This patent has not been challenged via IPR, PGR, or CBM. The absence is itself a signal — well-asserted patents eventually attract IPRs. The LLM analysis below may surface filings the ODP feed hasn’t indexed yet.
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
Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.
Obviousness
Combinations of prior art that suggest the claimed invention would have been obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Extensions
Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.
Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.