Invalidity dossier
US 7407029
Weight measuring systems and methods for vehicles
Current assignee: Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
Added 9/23/2026, 12:48:17 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 — US7407029B2
Title: "Weight measuring systems and methods for vehicles"
Patent number / application: US7407029B2; application US10/895,121.
Inventors: David S. Breed, Wilbur E. DuVall, Jeffrey L. Morin.
Assignee/original assignee: Original assignee Automotive Technologies International Inc.; current assignee listed as American Vehicular Sciences LLC.
Key dates (as listed, and characterized in the source as assumptions): Priority date 1992-05-05 (claimed from US07/878,517); filing date 2004-07-21; publication of US20050017488A1 on 2005-01-27; patent granted/publication of US7407029B2 on 2008-08-05. Status: Expired – Fee Related, with adjusted expiration 2013-01-26.
Purpose and plain-language scope: Based on the supplied text, the patent relates to measuring the weight of a vehicle occupant and using that measurement to control a vehicle component (for example, an occupant restraint such as an airbag). The prior-art keywords supplied ("vehicle," "seat," "occupant," "adjustment," "bladder") indicate a seat-based occupant sensing approach. The patent is linked through numerous continuation/priority references to earlier Automotive Technologies International filings; the source lists many related patents, but the excerpt does not reproduce the claims, abstract, or detailed description.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US7407029](/patent/US7407029)/en
What the excerpt does not establish:
- The specific claims of US7407029B2 (no claim text is included).
- The abstract or detailed description, and therefore the precise sensors, algorithms, or adjustment mechanisms.
- Actual legal status, ownership, or expiration beyond the source's stated assumptions.
- The content or legal effect of the many listed prior-art/family references, or of the listed litigation.
- Any technical or legal conclusion about validity, infringement, or priority.
This overview is limited strictly to information present in the supplied excerpt and does not incorporate outside research or inference beyond the text quoted.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:54:15 PM
Cases on file (1)
Group view →Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 7407029. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
- Automotive Technologies International, Inc. v. Delphi Corporation et al.filed Mar 11, 20082:08-cv-11048U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division)terminated Mar 9, 2011judgment
Defendants: Delphi Corporation, DPH Holdings Corporation, Delphi Automotive Systems, L.L.C., and 8 others
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.
Current assignee: Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
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.
Keep exploring
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This patent in court (1)
1 tracked lawsuit name US 7407029.