Invalidity dossier
US 1358988
Fastening means
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/23/2026, 11:34:36 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 1358988, “Fastening Means”
Bibliographic data (as supplied): Inventor Albert Rindsberger (Chicago, Illinois); original assignee/current assignee listed as “Individual.” Application No. US 199,501; filing and priority date 1917-10-31; granted and published 1920-11-16; anticipated expiration 1937-11-16; status “Expired - Lifetime.” Classification A47G1/06 (picture frames). Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US1358988/en
Purpose: The invention provides a fastening element that, through engagement with one member, exerts pressure on another member, using that pressure to hold the affected member in position. It is directed to releasably securing one member to another, including detachable fastening of panels in doors, walls and the like, with the fastening element automatically secured in functional position without special securing means.
Plain-language scope: A member has an abutment (shoulder) and a groove spaced from it. The groove’s outer wall presents a ridge/salient. A fastening element is inserted into the groove; the slanting groove portion forces the element’s free edge upward, causing slight curvature and gripping engagement with the ridge, while the element presses the backing and underlying parts (glass, picture) against the shoulder. The element may have a roughened surface for automatic locking, and is made of material with slight elasticity (preferably wood or metal). Embodiments show picture frames (rectangular and oval, with arcuate fastening members), a wedge-like fastening member in a parallel groove, two fastening members above and below the parts, and door-panel applications where the fastening member also functions as a molding.
Exemplary claims: A joint comprising a member with a shoulder and a groove spaced therefrom, the groove’s outer wall presenting a salient, and a member engageable with the groove so as to be pinched by the salient upon insertion, retained within the groove and thrust toward the shoulder; further claims recite rocking about the salient during insertion and a groove of uniform width.
What the excerpt does not establish: The full specification text, complete claims and drawings; the number of claims; any litigation, ownership transfers or validity analysis. No prior art is identified in the supplied text.
Prepared from the supplied patent text only; missing details are not inferred.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:32:37 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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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.