Invalidity dossier
US 9973930
End user device that secures an association of application to service policy with an application certificate check
Current assignee: Headwater Research LLC
Added 8/28/2026, 12:48:28 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-v4-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US9973930B2
Title: End user device that secures an association of application to service policy with an application certificate check
Patent number: US9973930B2
Application number: US15/160,520
Inventors: Gregory G. Raleigh, James Lavine, Jeffrey Green
Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (original assignee); an assignment to Headwater Partners I LLC dated 2016-06-08 is noted, followed by a 2017-01-05 assignment to Headwater Research LLC.
Priority date (as listed): 2009-01-28
Filing date: 2016-05-20
Publication date: 2018-05-15
Legal status: Active; anticipated expiration listed as 2029-03-02.
Purpose and plain-language scope:
According to the supplied text, the patent concerns an end-user device (such as a mobile device) that ties a specific application to a specific service policy, and verifies that association through an application certificate check. In other words, before an application is allowed to operate under a given service policy, the device confirms the application's certificate so that the application and the policy remain securely linked.
The listed prior-art keywords — network, service, service usage, usage, QoS — indicate the subject matter sits in the area of managing network service usage and quality-of-service policy.
Source:
https://patents.google.com/patent/[US9973930](/patent/US9973930)/en
What the excerpt does not establish:
The supplied text is a bibliographic/abstract-style listing only; it contains no claims, no written description, and no detailed-embodiment text. It therefore does not establish the specific claim limitations, the exact mechanism of the certificate check, or how the application-to-policy association is implemented. It also does not establish the substantive legal scope of the patent. Priority dates and legal status are expressly identified in the source as assumptions, not legal conclusions. The many listed litigation entries and family/priority links are included in the source but are outside the scope requested here and are not analyzed.
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:03:35 PM
Cases on file (6)
Group view →Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 9973930. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
- Headwater Research LLC v. Charter Communications Inc.filed Aug 27, 20252:25-cv-00901E.D. Tex.pending
Defendants: Charter Communications Inc.
Other patents asserted: 11966464, 9609510, 8639935, 11985155, 11405429, 11096055
- 2:25-cv-00903E.D. Tex.pending
Defendants: Comcast Cable Communications, LLC d/b/a Xfinity
Other patents asserted: 11966464, 9609510, 8639935, 11985155, 11405429, 11096055
- 2:25-cv-00156E.D. Tex., Marshall Div.dismissed without prejudice
Defendants: Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless, Verizon Communications, Inc., Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc., and 5 others
Other patents asserted: 11966464, 8832777, 8639935, 11985155
- 2:25-cv-00215E.D. Tex.dismissed without prejudice
Defendants: AT&T Inc., AT&T Services, Inc., AT&T Mobility, LLC, and 1 other
Other patents asserted: 11966464, 8832777, 8639935, 11985155
- 7:25-cv-00369W.D. Tex., Waco/Austin Div.pending
Defendants: Google LLC
Other patents asserted: 11966464, 8639935, 9609510, 11096055, 11405429, 11985155
- 2:25-cv-00902E.D. Tex.active
Defendants: DISH Network Corp., DISH Network L.L.C., DISH Technologies L.L.C.
Other patents asserted: 11966464, 11096055, 11405429, 11985155, 8639935, 9609510
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.
Current assignee: Headwater Research LLC
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.
Keep exploring
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This patent in court (6)
6 tracked lawsuits name US 9973930.