Invalidity dossier
US 11534031
Added 9/23/2026, 8:53:10 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 11,534,031 B2 ("Sandwich crimper")
Title: Sandwich crimper
Patent number: US11534031B2
Inventor: Kei Tawara
Current assignee (as listed): Jetteo LLC
Application number: US17/037,446
Filing date: 2020-09-29
Priority date: 2019-11-12
Publication date: 2022-12-27
Adjusted expiration (as listed): 2040-11-17
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US11534031/en
Purpose: The patent describes a sandwich crimper: an apparatus for making sealed crimped sandwiches, in which a filling is sealed between two layers of bread by a crimped edge and the crust is subsequently removed. The stated problem is that most sandwich makers "often do not form a good seal, and/or form cracks on the surface of the bread upon sealing," causing filling spill-out or an imperfect appearance. The stated objectives are to cut, seal, and crimp a sandwich in multiple shapes, applying pressure from both sides to make a "perfectly rounded and spill proof sandwich."
Plain-language scope (from the excerpt): The apparatus comprises a primary cutting die (1) and a crimping press (2). Two pieces that seal and crimp the sandwich have curved inner surfaces that give the sandwich a rounded or dome shape on opposing surfaces. Alignment pointers help users produce perfectly crimped edges. Multiple pieces and shapes serve specific purposes, and the invention reportedly allows users to, mutually exclusively: cut crusts off bread; cut filling materials (cheese, meat, vegetables); or just seal and crimp the sandwich. Each piece has center openings or air gaps so users can push through to release the sandwich easily. Figures show exploded and nested configurations and heart, square, and star shapes; a secondary cutting die appears in FIG. 5. Classifications include A21C15/04, A23P20/20, A23P30/10, A47J43/20, B26D3/00, B26D7/27, and B26F1/3846.
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not set out the full claim text or claim limitations, the complete detailed description, or the exact structural relationships and dimensions of the components. It also does not establish priority-chain substance, family-member content, or examination history. No litigation, ownership-transfer, validity, or prior-art analysis is provided or implied here.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:41:05 PM
Cases on file (0)
Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 11534031. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
No cases on file mention this patent. Upload a CSV or add a case manually in Admin → Manage litigation cases.
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.