Invalidity dossier
US 7491680
Device for chemical and biochemical reactions using photo-generated reagents
Current assignee: University of Michigan (System)
Added 9/23/2026, 9:09:31 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US 7,491,680 B2 — Patent Overview
Title: Device for chemical and biochemical reactions using photo-generated reagents
Patent number / application: US 7,491,680 B2; application US 10/241,411
Inventors: Xiaolian Gao, Xiaochuan Zhou, Erdogan Gulari
Original assignees: Regents of the University of Michigan, The; University of Houston
Key dates (as listed):
- Priority date: 1998-02-11
- Filing date: 2002-09-11
- Publication of US 2003/0138363 A1: 2003-07-24
- Grant/publication date: 2009-02-17
- Adjusted expiration: 2020-02-29; status shown as "Expired – Fee Related"
Purpose and plain-language scope (from the supplied text):
The patent concerns a device for chemical and biochemical reactions that employs photo-generated reagents. Its classifications place it in sequential or parallel reactions for synthesizing polypeptides or polynucleotides and in apparatus for combinatorial chemistry or molecular arrays. Specific classification entries point to reagent dispensing and evacuation using masks, liquid crystal masks, maskless processes using micromirror arrays, and features relating to solid-phase supports, including sheets. Related classifications cover nucleic acids, peptide synthesis on carriers, simultaneous synthesis of different peptide species/peptide libraries, and nanotechnology for materials or surface science. The recurring prior-art keywords "multimers," "photo," "monomers," "substrate," and "reaction" indicate阵列-type synthesis in which light generates reagents that act on a substrate to build multimers from monomers. Chemical structures in the listing (e.g., diazo/quinone-diazide and related photoactive compounds) are consistent with photo-generated reagent chemistry.
What the supplied excerpt does not establish:
It provides no claim text, so the precise scope of the patented invention cannot be stated. It does not establish enablement, validity, infringement, or the legal effect of the listed status. It does not describe the device's structure, optical components, reaction steps, or examples in operative detail. The assignee information is expressly noted as possibly inaccurate, and priority/expiration dates are labeled assumptions. Litigation and ownership-transfer details beyond the listed assignments are not addressed here (per scope limits).
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:40:56 PM
Cases on file (0)
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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.