Invalidity dossier
US 5832503
Method and apparatus for configuration management in communications networks
Current assignee: CA Inc
Added 9/23/2026, 7:35:42 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 — US 5,832,503 A
Title: Method and apparatus for configuration management in communications networks
Patent number: US 5,832,503 A (application US08/394,143)
Original assignee: Cabletron Systems Inc. (the excerpt also lists current assignees CA Inc and Concord Communications LLC)
Inventor(s): Rajiv Malik, Steve Sycamore, Bill Tracy
Key dates: Priority/filing date 1995‑02‑24; granted/publication date 1998‑11‑03; legal status "Expired – Lifetime." The excerpt lists a 2015‑11‑03 "anticipated expiration" entry.
Purpose: The invention addresses configuration management in communications networks — keeping an inventory of network devices, knowing each device's configuration, resetting or updating configurations, and scheduling changes. Prior approaches were manual (attaching a dumb terminal and issuing commands, with no way to retrieve or store configuration information) or device‑specific software limited to one device type, so different device types could not be configured simultaneously.
Plain‑language scope (from the excerpt): The invention is a method and apparatus using a database of "models," each model representing an associated network device with attribute values. A configuration manager accesses "model types," each having an associated set of attributes, and creates a "template" by selecting a model type and attributes. Screening a selected model with the template retrieves attribute values to create a "configuration record," which may be stored, modified, transferred to a model, and/or displayed. Multiple templates can create composite configuration records, and multiple configuration records can be transferred to multiple models to reconfigure multiple network devices. A template may also be derived from a pre‑existing configuration record. Other features mentioned include alarms indicating transfer/reconfiguration success and a scheduler for automatic capture, load, or verification of configuration records.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5832503/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not supply the full claims, detailed description, drawings, or complete prosecution history. Because the text is excerpted, it does not establish the precise claim scope, the full list of limitations, the content of any specific claim, the exact legal status, or the accuracy of the listed assignees; nor does it detail the referenced SPECTRUM system or cited commercial tools. No conclusions about validity, infringement, or prior art are supported by this excerpt.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:41:55 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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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.