Invalidity dossier
US 8130987
Speaker system with a plurality of openings in side walls of each of two speaker boxes
Current assignee: Sony Corp
Added 9/23/2026, 1:59:07 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 — US 8,130,987 B2
Title: Speaker system with a plurality of openings in side walls of each of two speaker boxes
Assignee: Sony Corporation (original assignee: Sony Corp); inventors Hideo Kaneda, Naotaka Kishi, and Noboru Shiina.
Key dates: Priority 2008-04-15; application US 12/395,884 filed 2009-03-02; published as US 2009/0257616 A1 on 2009-10-15; granted 2012-03-06. Status listed as "Expired – Fee Related," adjusted expiration 2030-04-11 (legal status stated as an assumption, not a legal conclusion).
Purpose: The patent addresses two problems with speaker-equipped headrests in vehicles: sound leaking from the sides or rear of a headrest and being heard by occupants of adjacent or rear seats, and weak low-frequency sound pressure that limits sound quality. The stated aim is to prevent sound leakage while ensuring low-frequency sound pressure.
Plain-language scope: The claimed system has a laterally extending body portion supporting the back of a user's head, plus right and left side portions connected to its ends. Each side portion includes a speaker and a cover. Each speaker has a speaker unit with a diaphragm enclosed in a speaker box. The speaker is inclined relative to the body portion's direction of extension so its center line points toward the corresponding ear when the head is supported. The box has a rear wall covering the diaphragm's rear side and a side wall projecting frontward from the rear wall's periphery along the diaphragm's outer edge. That side wall has multiple openings connecting the box interior and exterior. The example embodiment applies this to an automobile driver's seat. The description reports measurements comparing frequency responses of the embodiment versus a comparison system, noting lower sound pressure below roughly 100–200 Hz at side positions in the comparison.
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide full claim language, the complete detailed description (page text is truncated mid-sentence), the full figure set, exact dimensions or materials, or the complete contents of the cited Japanese reference (JP 2005-159913). No litigation, ownership-transfer, validity, or prior-art analysis is included.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:52:38 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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