Invalidity dossier
US 5617422
High speed interface in a telecommunications network
Current assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc
Added 9/23/2026, 4:30:42 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: US5617422A — "High speed interface in a telecommunications network"
Bibliographic data (as supplied): US Patent 5,617,422; application US08/513,593; filed 1995-08-10; priority date 1995-08-10; granted/publication date 1997-04-01; inventors Paul D. Litzenberger and Louis G. Gottlieb; original assignee MCI Communications Corp.; current assignee listed as Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.; status listed as "Expired – Lifetime," with anticipated expiration 2015-08-10.
Purpose: The patent describes a telephony network system for a common carrier that provides "total interconnectivity among nodes using a high speed interface." Its stated aim is an "integrated fabric" supporting both call-processing-critical information and statistical/billing information, as well as bi-directional data transfer between service-oriented network nodes across multiple application layer protocols through a common transport layer protocol. It also addresses Operations, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning (OAM&P), noting that remote maintenance, circuit provisioning, and database control of Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and routing information must be coordinated remotely.
Plain-language scope: In one embodiment, a first group of intelligent platforms (each processing call-related transactions) is arranged in a local area network (LAN); a second, similar group is arranged in another LAN; and a wide area network (WAN) connects both LANs, providing a high-speed interface among them. Another embodiment adds a remotely located switch routing a call from a calling station to a called station, with the WAN connecting both LAN groups and the switch. The interface is described as supporting small-packet, dialog-based communication and bulk data transfer with variable-length packet sizes. Figures describe priority applications (high/low), transaction delay times, transaction-processing flows for high- and low-volume services, and a service-creation flowchart.
Not established by the excerpt: The excerpt is explicitly partial. It does not provide the full claims, complete detailed description, all drawing content, the abstract, or any prior-art references. It contains no litigation, validity, or ownership-transfer analysis beyond the supplied assignment/expiration metadata, and no verification of the listed assignees.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US5617422](/patent/US5617422)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:44:25 PM
Cases on file (0)
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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
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.