Invalidity dossier
US 11133758
Quantum vacuum fluctuation devices
Current assignee: University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Added 9/21/2026, 10:30:16 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 — US11133758B2
Title: Quantum vacuum fluctuation devices
Assignee/Applicant: University of Colorado Colorado Springs (original assignee). The record also lists an assignment to Radanta Corporation (2020-07-22) and a subsequent assignment to The Regents of the University of Colorado (2020-09-24). Google states listed assignees "may be inaccurate."
Key dates: Priority date 2019-05-10; filing date 2020-04-22; publication date 2021-09-28; anticipated expiration 2040-04-22. Legal status listed as Active (an assumption, not a legal conclusion).
Inventor: Garret Moddel
Application number: US16/855,890
Purpose: The patent describes electronic devices for harvesting and generating electrical energy said to arise from quantum vacuum fluctuations. The premise stated is that quantum vacuum energy is geometry-dependent, having lower density inside a Casimir cavity than outside, creating an asymmetry that can drive energy or charge carriers across a device. The disclosed devices are described as producing power in both dark and illuminated conditions, distinguishing them from solar cells and photodiodes.
Plain-language scope: An example device has an electronic device adjoining a "zero-point-energy-density-reducing structure" — e.g., a Casimir cavity with first reflective layer, cavity layer, second reflective layer. The electronic device may include a first conductive layer (metal, semiconductor, 2D material, superconductor, or conductive ceramic) adjoining or forming part of the cavity; a transport layer (dielectric or semiconductor) in contact with it; and a second conductive layer. Diode forms are listed (MIM, Schottky, MIS, Mott, quantum well, ballistic, carbon nanotube, SIS). Structures are described as permitting carrier transport or capture in 1 ps or less (optionally 100 fs, 10 fs, 1 fs, or 0.1 fs or less), with components optionally 100 nm or thinner. Cavity layers may be evacuated, gas-filled, or condensed-phase (solid, liquid, liquid crystal), optionally 10 nm–2 µm thick; reflective layers at least 10 nm. Devices may be arrayed in series and/or parallel, or stacked. An optional load may connect to conductive layers to receive current.
Classification: H02N11/00 and H02N11/008 ("Alleged electric or magnetic perpetua mobilia"), among others.
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not confirm experimental power generation, efficiency, or device performance; does not resolve the ownership-transfers question (Google cautions its assignee list may be inaccurate); and does not address validity, enforceability, litigation, or prior art beyond the class listing. The source text is an excerpt; omitted portions are not represented here.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US11133758](/patent/US11133758)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:01:38 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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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
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
Defensive disclosure: derivative variations of each claim designed to render future incremental improvements obvious or non-novel.