Invalidity dossier
US 1556106
Ornament
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/24/2026, 2:13:38 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US1556106A — "Ornament": Patent Overview
Title: Ornament
Patent number: US1556106A
Application number: US635605A
Inventor: Arthur L. Hamilton, of Bellaire, Harris County, Texas
Assignee: Individual (original assignee listed as Individual)
Filing/priority date: 1923-04-30
Grant/publication date: 1925-10-06
Anticipated expiration: 1942-10-06; status listed as "Expired – Lifetime"
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US1556106](/patent/US1556106)/en
Purpose
The specification states the invention "relates to new and useful improvements in an ornament," and that one object is "to provide an ornament for personal adornment which depends from the ears of the wearer and is so disposed about the neck as to give an ornamental and pleasing appearance."
Plain-language scope
As described and illustrated: open ring-like clamps (preferably spring wire) clamp around the wearer's ears, and may be substituted by clamps; the rings or clamps carry settings (2, 2) for diamonds or other precious stones. Depending from them are front and rear chains (3, 4) carrying front and rear pendants (5, 6), positioned respectively on the chest and back. One chain, preferably the front one, also connects to a necklace (7) worn around the neck, the necklace having a usual clasp (8). Figures 1–3 show the ornament as worn, detached, and an alternative ear clasp.
Claimed subject matter
Two claims. Claim 1: an ornament with a clasped necklace, ear-engaging members, and depending chains connected at their respective ends to the ear-engaging members, hanging one in front and one in the rear of the wearer, one chain also connected on each side to the necklace. Claim 2 adds a pendant carried by each chain.
What the excerpt does not establish
It does not establish the actual legal status/ownership, claim validity or enforceability, or interpretation beyond the quoted claim language; it also omits some text (as the source excerpt states), the drawing contents themselves, and any prosecution history or prior-art analysis.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:40:47 PM
Cases on file (0)
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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.