Invalidity dossier
US 7693959
Content distribution system using an alternative domain name system (DNS) and content servers
Current assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Added 9/21/2026, 9:35:47 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US 7,693,959 B2 — Patent Overview
Title: Content distribution system using an alternative domain name system (DNS) and content servers
Patent number: US 7,693,959 B2
Application number: US 11/515,171
Inventors: F. Thomson Leighton; Daniel M. Lewin
Original assignee / current assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Priority date: 1998-07-14
Filing date: 2006-09-01
Publication date: 2010-04-06 (application published as US 20070005689A1 on 2007-01-04)
Status listed: Expired – Fee Related; adjusted expiration 2021-08-27
Plain-language scope (per the supplied excerpt): The patent concerns distributing content over a network using an alternative domain name system (DNS) together with content servers. The listed classifications point to server selection for load balancing across replicated servers—including selection based on server workload/parameters, network conditions, client or server location, hashing of IP addresses or costs, and random or heuristic selection—plus reaction to server failures, data replication/mirroring, and intermediate processing located close to the data consumer. Classification also covers name-to-address mapping and DNS-based directory services.
Prior-art keywords listed: content, CDN, name, server, servers.
Legal events noted in the source: PTAB case IPR2017-00249 filed (Settlement); a US case filed in Massachusetts District Court; first worldwide family litigation filed; assignment to MIT recorded 2010-01-04.
What the supplied excerpt does not establish: It does not include the claims, written description, abstract, or detailed description, so the precise claimed scope cannot be stated. It contains no findings on validity, infringement, or the outcome or merits of any proceeding. The PTAB item is described only as "(Settlement)." The assignee listings are expressly disclaimed by the source as potentially inaccurate, and priority/legal-status dates are labeled assumptions, not legal conclusions. Family members (e.g., US 8,073,961; US 8,271,617; US 8,577,997; US 9,641,482; US 20170237705A1) are listed but their contents are not provided. The excerpt also supplies no numerical ranges, formulas, or step-by-step algorithm details.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7693959/en (fetched 2026-09-21)
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:02:04 PM
Cases on file (0)
Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 7693959. 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.