Invalidity dossier
US 8902911
System and method for interconnecting ethernet and fibre channel
Current assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Ltd
Added 9/23/2026, 12:22:25 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: US8902911B2
Title: System and method for interconnecting ethernet and fibre channel
Patent number: US8902911B2 (application US13/401,177; earlier publication US20130016733A1)
Inventor: Stuart B. Berman
Assignee/owner of record (as listed): Originally Emulex Corp; later reassigned to Emulex Design & Manufacturing Corporation, then Emulex Corporation, then Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Current assignee listed as Avago Technologies International Sales Pte. Ltd.
Key dates:
- Priority date: 1997-02-18 (priority claimed from US08/801,471)
- Filing date: 2012-02-21
- Publication date: 2014-12-02
- Legal status: Expired – Fee Related; adjusted expiration 2017-07-13
Purpose / plain-language scope:
The patent concerns interconnecting Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks. According to the classifications, it relates to packet switching elements, storage area networks (SANs), Fibre Channel switches, interconnection of networks, and interconnected ring/loop systems. In plain terms, it appears directed to systems and methods for linking Ethernet and Fibre Channel environments, including switching/routing, address handling, and loop/fabric configurations typical of storage networking. The prior-art keywords listed are: port, fabric, loop, module, fibre channel.
Classifications include: H04L49/357 (Fibre Channel switches), H04L49/356 (SAN switches), H04L12/46 (interconnection of networks), H04L12/4637 (interconnected ring systems), H04L12/427 (loop networks with decentralised control), H04L45/745 (address table lookup/filtering), among others.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US8902911](/patent/US8902911)/en
What the excerpt does not establish:
The supplied text is an excerpt and does not include the claims, detailed description, drawings, or specification. It therefore does not establish the precise claimed scope, the specific technical mechanisms disclosed, the identity or content of prior art, or the validity/legal effect of the patent. Dates and legal status are noted as assumptions by the source and are not legal conclusions. Litigation, ownership transfers, and prior-art details are outside this overview.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:53:39 PM
Cases on file (0)
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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.