Invalidity dossier
US 8417061
Methods and systems for provisioning energy systems
Current assignee: HERCULES TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT CO V, LLC
Added 9/23/2026, 7:49:49 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 8,417,061 B2
Title: Methods and systems for provisioning energy systems
Patent number / application: US 8,417,061 B2; Application US 12/364,506; pre-grant publication US 2009/0304227 A1.
Inventors: Daniel Ian Kennedy, Adam Pryor, Andrew Birch.
Original assignee: Sungevity Inc. Current assignee listed as Hercules Technology Management Co V, LLC, Sungevity Inc, and Pineapple Energy LLC.
Key dates: Priority date 2008-02-01 (also a priority claim from PCT/US2008/079003, dated 2008-10-06); filing date 2009-02-02; granted/publication date 2013-04-09. Status: Expired – Fee Related, adjusted expiration 2031-08-16. (The source labels legal status and dates as assumptions, not legal conclusions.)
Purpose and plain-language scope: The patent relates generally to methods and systems for provisioning energy systems, and in particular solar energy systems. The supplied text frames the problem as follows: sizing a homeowner's particular roof space, including relevant features, typically requires an on-site technician visit; remote evaluation of shading or other local factors is not presently possible; and purchasers cannot visualize a system as it would appear on their actual roof. Consequently, information available to a purchaser about engineering requirements, aesthetic results, cost, and environmental impact is limited. The invention is described as providing consumers, private enterprises, government agencies, contractors, and third-party vendors with tools and resources for gathering site-specific information related to purchase and installation of energy systems.
The excerpt indicates the disclosure spans, among other things: a system architecture for provisioning energy systems; graphical user interfaces for displaying energy system information, entering an installation-site address, showing energy savings and an image of a system installed on a user-specified surface; a sizing subsystem including roof measurement tools and shading information; an energy specification subsystem; a quote subsystem; and methods for providing energy system specifications, configuring component packages, generating specifications, and determining pitch. Numerous figures (FIGS. 1–28) are listed and described only by caption.
What the excerpt does not establish: The excerpt does not provide claim text, detailed embodiments, specific measurements or algorithms, or the content of omitted passages ("consult the source for omitted text"). It does not establish validity, enforceability, prior art, litigation history, or the accuracy of the listed assignees or legal status.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:41:47 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.