US 6542090

I'll search for the specific patent number 6542090 in the USPTO database and check for any CAFC 2026 docket activity.

I have confirmation of the patent's core details. Now let me check for any CAFC 2026 docket activity involving this patent number.

No CAFC 2026 results found. Let me do one more check on USPTO records and any post-grant proceedings.

US Patent 6,542,090 (US6542090B1) — Summary

Note on scope: I searched for the literal identifier 6542090 only. No results for any similar numbers were included.

Bibliographic data

Abstract

"A character input apparatus and method which can give a plurality of different character input mean a capability of complementing each other."

In plain terms: the invention lets a user enter Japanese (or other) text by mixing input methods — keyboard (kana/romanized), handwriting (via mouse/pen), and speech recognition — into a single unfinalized character buffer, in the order entered. The mixed string can then be finalized as a block using conventional character processing (e.g., kana-to-kanji conversion, character-kind conversion, insert/delete), instead of requiring each input device's characters to be finalized separately before being combined. This lets one input method substitute for another (e.g., handwriting can supply a key that is broken).

Independent claims (plain-language overview)

There are 18 claims, with three independent claims (1, 7, 13) — an apparatus claim, a method claim, and a recording-medium/program claim:

• Claim 1 (apparatus): A character input apparatus having (a) multiple character input means using different input methods; (b) memory means that store the entered characters in the order entered, regardless of which input means produced them; and (c) character processing means that process the stored string to finalize the input character string. The key concept is that characters from all input means are pooled as unfinalized characters that can be finalized together.
• Claim 7 (method): The corresponding method — inputting characters by different methods; storing them in a memory device in the order entered; and processing the stored character string to finalize it.
• Claim 13 (recording medium): A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that, when executed in a character input apparatus, performs the same input → ordered storage → finalization-processing steps as claim 7.

Dependent claims (overview)

Claims 2/8/14 add a character-processing range specifying means/step (user can select a sub-range of the stored string to process). Claims 3/9/15 add display means/step showing unfinalized vs. finalized strings in different display forms (e.g., different colors or underlining). Claims 4/10/16 specify the processing includes kana-to-kanji conversion of the unfinalized string. Claims 5/11/17 specify insertion or deletion of characters. Claims 6/12/18 specify character-kind conversion (e.g., hiragana/katakana/alphanumeric).

CAFC 2026 docket search

I searched for "6542090" and "6,542,090" in connection with CAFC/Federal Circuit 2026 dockets, appeals, and litigation. The searches returned no results, so I found no evidence of any CAFC 2026 appeal or other Federal Circuit activity involving this patent. Given the patent expired in 2019, any 2026 appellate litigation would be unlikely, but I cannot rule it out from my searches — treat the absence of CAFC activity as "not found," not "confirmed absent."

Uncertainty / data-quality flags

• The Japanese text (kana/kanji) is stripped from the Google Patents/Justia HTML copies; the specification's examples (e.g., "東京駅") render as empty strings. The substantive meaning is unaffected.
• Google Patents lists a "Related Child Application" (US09/916,649 → US6585666B2) titled "Arthroscopic diagnostic probe to measure mechanical properties of articular cartilage." This appears to be a data error on Google Patents — an unrelated medical-device patent mislinked to this character-input patent. I did not verify this via USPTO and flag it as likely erroneous.
• Maintenance fees were paid at the 4-, 8-, and 12-year marks (2006, 2010, 2014), so the expiration was by term (20 years), not by fee nonpayment.