Invalidity dossier
US 7704279
Bi-directional fixating transvertebral body screws, zero-profile horizontal intervertebral miniplates, expansile intervertebral body fusion devices, and posterior motion-calibrating interarticulating joint stapling device for spinal fusion
Current assignee: Individual
Added 9/23/2026, 11:09:29 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: US7704279B2
Title: "Bi-directional fixating transvertebral body screws, zero-profile horizontal intervertebral miniplates, expansile intervertebral body fusion devices, and posterior motion-calibrating interarticulating joint stapling device for spinal fusion"
Patent number: US7704279B2 | Application: US11/208,644
Inventors: Mosheh T. Moskowitz; Nathan C. Moskowitz
Assignee: Individual (original assignee: Individual; a 2016-08-03 reassignment record names Moskowitz, Nathan C.)
Key dates:
- Priority date: 2005-04-12
- Filing date: 2005-08-23
- Publication (grant): 2010-04-27
- Adjusted expiration: 2028-09-04; status listed as "Expired – Fee Related"
Purpose (plain language): The title and prior-art keyword data indicate a family of spinal-fusion implants and instruments. The named devices are: screws that fixate in two directions across vertebral bodies; "zero-profile" horizontal miniplates placed between vertebrae so they do not protrude; expandable (expansile) intervertebral fusion devices; and a posterior stapling device for interarticulating joints that calibrates motion. The abstract-level keyword data emphasizes bone, fusion, a "mechanism," drilling, and materials such as metal, plastic, and wood.
Scope (per supplied excerpt): The excerpt presents bibliographic data, family/priority linkages to numerous later filings, and keyword/classification metadata. It does not include the claims or full description, so no claim scope can be stated.
What the excerpt does not establish:
- The actual wording or breadth of any claim (claims text is not included).
- The precise structure, dimensions, materials, or methods of any named device.
- Whether the "zero-profile," "expansile," or "motion-calibrating" features are claimed versus merely described.
- The identity of the four concatenated device families as separate inventions or embodiments.
- Any legal conclusion about validity, enforceability, or infringement.
No litigation, ownership-transfer, validity, or prior-art research was performed, per instructions.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US7704279](/patent/US7704279)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:32:53 PM
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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.