Invalidity dossier
US 6974321
Intraoral device
Current assignee: Zyris Inc
Added 9/23/2026, 2:46:08 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: US6974321B2 — "Intraoral device"
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US6974321](/patent/US6974321)/en
Title: Intraoral device.
Inventors: James A. Hirsch and Thomas R. Hirsch.
Assignee history (per the supplied record): originally assigned to Innerlite, Inc. (2003-02-27); reassigned to ZYRIS, INC. (2018-03-23, recorded as a change of name).
Key dates: earliest priority 1998-11-17 (claimed from US09/193,916, which issued as US6022214A); application US10/375,230 filed 2003-02-27; published as US20030134253A1 on 2003-07-17; granted 2005-12-13; status listed as "Expired – Lifetime," with adjusted expiration 2019-03-01.
Purpose and plain-language scope (from the supplied text only): The patent concerns an intraoral device used in dental or surgical procedures. The record's own keyword and classification data indicate the device relates to fluid evacuation from a patient's mouth, together with illumination, injection, and dispersion features. The listing repeatedly associates the disclosure with: a mouth/patient structure; evacuation and injection methods and substances; fluid handling (including cooling fluid, water, and mixtures); illumination; light-transmission structures such as fiber; and materials including elastomers, thermoplastic elastomer, polyether block amide, ethyl urethane, acrylic acid groups, vinyl groups, vinyl polymers, Teflon®, Santoprene®, and stainless steel. Manufacturing terms referenced include injection moulding, compression moulding, transfer moulding, extrusion, casting, laser cutting, and cladding.
In plain terms, the excerpt indicates a device shaped for placement in a patient's mouth that manages fluids and can include lighting and delivery features, made from biocompatible plastic/elastomer or metal materials.
What this excerpt does not establish:
- No claim language is reproduced here, so the actual metes and bounds of the invention cannot be stated.
- Specific component geometry, dimensions, or structural relationships are not provided.
- Fluid/substance list items (e.g., "cooling fluid," "water") appear only as keyword-frequency data, not as described embodiments.
- Legal status is expressly an assumption, not a legal conclusion.
- The excerpt does not establish validity, enforceability, or the scope of any transferred rights.
- Continuation/priority relationships are listed as linked publications, but their substantive content is absent.
No litigation, ownership analysis, validity, or prior-art assessment is offered, per the supplied-text limitation.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:51:59 PM
Cases on file (0)
Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 6974321. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
No cases on file mention this patent. Upload a CSV or add a case manually in Admin → Manage litigation cases.
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.