Invalidity dossier
US 7596966
Interchangeable jewelry clip
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/21/2026, 10:21:49 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 7,596,966 B2 — "Interchangeable Jewelry Clip"
Bibliographic data (per supplied text)
- Patent number: US 7,596,966 B2
- Title: Interchangeable jewelry clip
- Inventor: Timothy Vincent Garvin
- Application number: US 11/228,044
- Filing/priority date: 2005-09-15
- Pre-grant publication: US 2007/0089455 A1 (2007-04-26)
- Grant date: 2009-10-06
- Current assignee: listed as "Individual"; original assignee "Individual"
- Legal status: Expired – Fee Related; adjusted expiration 2027-01-07
- Classifications: A44C 17/00; A44C 17/02; A44C 17/0208; A44C 17/0216; A44C 3/00; A44C 3/004; A44C 3/008
Purpose
The device lets a wearer change the ornament in a piece of jewelry by hand, so an item can be accessorized to different clothing, makeup, or hair colors. Conventionally, ornaments or gemstones were permanently set in a casing by soldering, rivets, adhesives, folded tabs, or prongs; the disclosed device instead makes the ornament removable and reinsertable.
Plain-language scope
A single lightweight, flexible spring-tension frame is bent to form a clip. One end is enlarged and has an aperture; the ornament is inserted from the back, protrudes through the aperture, and is held by spring tension between the enlarged end and the opposite end, pressing against a backing portion fixed to the ornament's back. The backing is larger than the aperture but smaller than the enlarged end, preventing the ornament from slipping through. The frame can be bent by hand to release or exchange the ornament. Disclosed applications include pendant/necklace strand, pin, bracelet, and earring. Materials named: silver, copper, gold, brass, bronze, other lightweight steel; plastic is disclosed but not preferred. Frame ends may be decorated (etching, engraving, painting, carving, glued ornamentation), including small engravings thematically linked to the ornament. Frame shapes are cut/stamped from patterns before folding. A method is described: cutting the spring-tension member into a shape with two ends and folding it into a clip; selecting lightweight frame metal; forming the aperture; and creating the ornament with means preventing it from sliding out.
Not established by the excerpt
The excerpt omits claim text, so claim scope and claim numbering are unverified. It does not establish litigation, ownership transfers, validity, or prior art. It also does not detail specific dimensions, the earring/pin/bracelet figures (FIG. 4–7), or omitted specification text.
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:01:44 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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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
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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.