US 11037092

US Patent 11037092, titled "Actively managed food delivery," was issued to Zest Labs Inc. on June 15, 2021, from an application filed on March 21, 2019.

Summary of US Patent 11037092:

• Title: Actively managed food delivery
• Assignee: Zest Labs Inc
• Inventors: Peter A. Mehring, Thomas C. Reese, Dean M. Kawaguchi, Sameer Dekate, Russell Shikami
• Filing Date: March 21, 2019
• Issue Date: June 15, 2021
• Abstract: The patent describes a computer-implemented method for managing food product delivery. It involves receiving status information, including sensor-derived conditions like temperature, from a product container holding food. Preferred condition ranges for the container are determined based on a food product profile, which includes pre-heating/pre-cooling parameters and specifies how these ranges change over time. If conditions fall outside these preferred ranges for a set time, a command is sent to an environmental control unit to adjust the environmental parameters in the container. Additionally, the system modifies a prioritized delivery scheme for the container based on its food product history, including any adjustments made, to prioritize its delivery.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (Computer-implemented method): This claim describes a method where a computer receives real-time environmental data (like temperature) from a smart product container holding food. This container has been pre-configured with a "profile" for the food, which specifies ideal conditions, including pre-heating or pre-cooling, and how these ideal conditions might change over time (e.g., a specific temperature drop per hour). If the received conditions are not within the ideal range for a certain period, the computer sends a command directly to the container's environmental control unit to automatically adjust the conditions. Furthermore, the computer updates the delivery priority for that container based on its history, including any such environmental adjustments, potentially moving it to the front of the delivery queue compared to other containers.

• Independent Claim 10 (Computer program product): This claim covers a computer program (software) stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. This software performs the same steps as described in Claim 1. Specifically, it includes computer code for receiving status information, determining preferred ranges (which change over time per a profile), deciding if conditions are within range, sending a command to an environmental control unit to make adjustments, and modifying the delivery scheme based on the food product history and environmental adjustments.

• Independent Claim 19 (System): This claim describes a system, comprising a processor and associated logic (hardware and/or software), configured to carry out the same functions as detailed in Claim 1. The system is designed to receive status information, determine preferred environmental ranges based on a food product profile (including time-dependent changes), check if conditions are within those ranges, send commands to the environmental control unit for automatic adjustments, and modify the delivery prioritization based on the food product's history and any adjustments made.

CAFC 2026 Dockets:
As of April 26, 2026, no specific dockets related to US Patent 11037092 were found in the CAFC 2026 dockets.

As of April 26, 2026, a search for litigation involving US Patent 11037092 did not yield any results on widely accessible litigation databases or through general web searches. This suggests there is no known active or concluded patent litigation directly naming US Patent 11037092 as the subject of an infringement suit.

Therefore, no specific cases with plaintiff(s), defendant(s), jurisdiction, case number, filing date, and outcome/status can be provided at this time.

Proceedings overview

As of July 2, 2026, a comprehensive search for AIA trial proceedings concerning US Patent 11037092 reveals no PTAB activity on file. This indicates that the patent has not been subjected to Inter Partes Review (IPR), Post-Grant Review (PGR), or Covered Business Method (CBM) proceedings. For a defendant, this means the patent's claims remain untested at the PTAB, and all claims are currently presumed valid.

Strategic summary

Currently, all claims of US Patent 11037092 are UNTESTED by the PTAB. Since no AIA trial proceedings have been filed, there are no claims that have been canceled or sustained by the PTAB. This means that the patent's validity has not been challenged through these specific administrative mechanisms.

The estoppel landscape under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) is currently clear, as no IPRs have been instituted. Therefore, any prior-art grounds that could have been raised in an IPR are still available for a defendant to assert in district court litigation or a future IPR.

There are no discernible patterns of PTAB activity to analyze, such as multiple petitions by the same entity, aggressive appeals by the patent owner, or involvement of defensive aggregators like Unified Patents, because no proceedings exist.

Recommended next steps

Since there is no PTAB activity for US Patent 11037092, the recommended next steps for a defendant facing assertion would be:

• Consider filing an IPR petition: Given the patent has not been challenged at the PTAB, an IPR could be a viable option to test the validity of the claims, especially if strong prior art exists. This would provide an opportunity to challenge the patentability of the claims based on novelty (§ 102) and obviousness (§ 103) grounds.
• Prior art search: Conduct a thorough prior art search to identify potential grounds for invalidity that could be raised in an IPR petition or in district court.
• Analyze claim scope: Carefully analyze the independent and dependent claims of US11037092 to understand their scope and identify potential weaknesses that could be challenged.

Inventors

• Peter A. Mehring: Zest Labs Inc.
• Thomas C. Reese: Zest Labs Inc.
• Dean M. Kawaguchi: Zest Labs Inc.
• Sameer Dekate: Zest Labs Inc.
• Russell Shikami: Zest Labs Inc.

(Inventors' employer at time of filing is inferred from the original assignee, Zest Labs Inc., as stated on the patent document. No information suggests inventors departing within 12 months of filing.)

Original assignee

Zest Labs Inc.

• Product Embodiment: Zest Labs Inc. (later Zest Fresh) developed and marketed solutions for post-harvest freshness management for fresh produce, which would likely embody the claims related to actively managed food delivery.
• Primary Line of Business: Providing freshness management solutions for perishable food products, particularly in the fresh produce supply chain.
• Current Status: Acquired by It's Fresh! (a wholly-owned subsidiary of AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.) in January 2020.

Assignment timeline

A search on the USPTO Assignment Center for patent 11037092 did not yield any recorded assignments. This indicates that the patent likely remains with the original assignee or its direct successor through corporate actions not requiring a separate assignment recordation for this specific patent.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 11037092
    2019 : Filed by Zest Labs Inc
    2020 : Zest Labs acquired by It's Fresh!
    2021 : Issued to Zest Labs Inc

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — not present. There are no recorded transfers to entities with names suggesting a licensing-only function (e.g., "IP," "Patents," "Holdings").
2. Known asserter in the chain — not present. No known patent assertion entities are identified as assignees.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — not present. No assignment chain is present to show repeat correspondents.
4. Cascading transfers — not present. No multiple consecutive assignments are recorded.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — not present. No recorded assignments or known litigation.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. Zest Labs Inc. was acquired, not dissolved via bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. While Zest Labs Inc. was acquired by AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (via its subsidiary It's Fresh!), there is no public information to suggest that this patent is being used in a privateering capacity. AgroFresh is an operating company in a related field.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is not currently assigned to any known defensive aggregators.

Verdict

Insufficient data (no records, or only the original assignment)

The USPTO Assignment Center shows no recorded assignments for US Patent 11037092. While Zest Labs Inc. (the original assignee) was acquired by It's Fresh! (a subsidiary of AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.) in January 2020, this corporate acquisition would typically transfer ownership of assets, including patents, without necessarily requiring an individual assignment recordation for each patent. Without further recorded assignments, there is insufficient data to identify NPE or patent-troll patterns.

Verification: https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/patent/index.html

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 11037092

To identify the most relevant prior art for US Patent 11037092, I will examine the "Cited by" section of the patent on the USPTO website, which lists prior art considered by the examiner. This analysis will focus on references that directly anticipate the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Unfortunately, I cannot directly access the full USPTO database and perform detailed "Cited by" analysis as if I were using the Patent Public Search tool. The provided text for US11037092B2 only includes "Prior art keywords" and "Prior art date" (2015-03-30), but not a list of specific cited prior art patents or publications.

Therefore, I will state that based on the provided text, a detailed analysis of specific prior art citations and their anticipation of claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102 cannot be performed.

To proceed with such an analysis, I would need a list of the specific prior art references cited within US Patent 11037092, which would typically be found in the patent's "References Cited" section. Without this information, I cannot fulfill the request to provide full citations, publication/filing dates, brief descriptions, and which claims they potentially anticipate.

I cannot perform an obviousness analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103 for US Patent 11037092.

The "Prior art" section from the previously generated analysis explicitly states: "a detailed analysis of specific prior art citations and their anticipation of claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102 cannot be performed" because the provided patent text for US11037092B2 does not include a list of specific cited prior art patents or publications.

Without a concrete list of prior art references, it is impossible to identify combinations of prior art that would render the claims obvious, or to explain the motivation a person having ordinary skill in the art would have had to combine them.