Invalidity dossier
US 6434755
Helmet
Current assignee: Schutt Sports IP LLC
Added 9/17/2026, 1:00:58 AM
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 6,434,755 B1 — "Helmet"
Title: Helmet
Patent number: US 6,434,755 B1
Application number: US09/586,124
Inventors: P. David Halstead; Cherie F. Alexander; Thad Ide
Original assignee (per source): Southern Impact Research Center LLC
Current assignee listed: Schutt Sports IP LLC
Priority date (as listed): 1999-06-04
Filing date: 2000-06-02
Publication/grant date: 2002-08-20
Status as listed: Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration 2019-06-04
Purpose (from the source text): The invention "relates generally to helmets and more particularly to football helmets of improved construction." Stated objectives are reduced weight relative to conventional helmets, improved comfort, avoidance of conventional shortcomings, and economical production and convenient use. Conventional helmets are described as heavy and generally uncomfortable.
Plain-language scope (from the source's "Definitions" excerpt): In a preferred embodiment, the helmet has a substantially rigid shell with a shell thickness defined between a substantially continuous exterior surface and a spaced-apart substantially continuous interior surface. A one-piece first shock attenuating member sits adjacent to and substantially in contact with portions of the shell interior, having a first thickness and a first compression deflection. Multiple discrete second shock attenuating members sit adjacent to portions of the first member and adjacent to and substantially in contact with portions of the shell interior; each has a second thickness greater than the first thickness and a second compression deflection less than the first. In another aspect, an offset on a substantially continuous portion of the shell extends between the rear and opposite side portions to increase flexural resistance. In a football-helmet embodiment, the shell is polycarbonate with a thickness of about 0.08 to about 0.1 inches, with such an offset.
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not show the claims as issued, the full specification, the drawings, or any prior-art references. Claim scope, validity, enforceability, and the legal effect of the listed assignments, security interests, and litigation entries are not established here. The excerpt is explicitly marked as partial ("consult the source for omitted text").
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:03:16 PM
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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.