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2026-10-04 — Google Patents

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US 7,379,286 B2 (the project patent) [web: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7379286B2/en]

  • Priority date 2004-09-27, which is earlier than the 2005-09-26 filing. This implies a provisional application filed 27 Sep 2004. The provisional's number was not obtained.
  • Events listed by Google: 2005-09-26 application filed by Jovion Corp; 2006-03-27 assigned to "JOVIAN CORPORATION"; 2007-10-18 published as US20070241470A1; 2008-05-27 granted; 2008-06-10 assigned to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO. A Google search snippet also showed an assignment record "JOVION CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:021076/0035. Effective date: 20070507" and a further legal event beginning "2011-12", which was not resolved.
  • Status per Google: "Active", adjusted expiration 2026-11-30. Google's status does not reliably show maintenance-fee lapse. Lead: check USPTO Patent Center or the assignment database for maintenance-fee events (3.5-year fee due about Nov 2011, which may be the "2011-12" event) and the chain of title.
  • Current assignees per Google: JOVIAN Corp and the University of Colorado Boulder.
  • Classification: H02N11/00, H02N11/002.
  • No foreign family members were shown; only US20070241470A1 appears.

Later patents by co-inventor Garret Moddel (priority 1: the inventor's own later work)

US 11,133,758 B2, "Quantum vacuum fluctuation devices" [web: https://patents.google.com/patent/US11133758B2/en] - Inventor: Garret Moddel. Priority 2019-05-10, filed 2020-04-22, granted 2021-09-28. Google lists the assignee as "University of Colorado Colorado Springs". This conflicts with the WO record (applicant "Individual"), so treat it as unverified. - Abstract (quote): "devices incorporating Casimir cavities, which modify the quantum vacuum mode distribution within the cavities. The Casimir cavities can drive charge carriers from or to an electronic device disposed adjacent to or contiguous with the Casimir cavity ..." - Mechanism: an MIM diode next to a Casimir cavity; asymmetric vacuum mode density on the two sides drives hot carriers (transport within 1 ps or less). - Figures in the patent (the WebFetch summary calls them theoretical or projected, not measured): "3.2 mA/μm²" theoretical maximum; "0.4 μA/μm²" with 0.05% photoinjection probability and 25% cavity efficiency; a 10 cm × 10 cm array of 2.5 billion devices giving "up to 250 W"; a 25 μm cell with 0.1 V open-circuit voltage. - Family: WO2020229944A1 (PCT/IB2020/054254), WO2020231874A1 (PCT/US2020/032251), EP3966925A1, US20200358376A1, CN114175492A, CN114128126A, BR112021022512A2, MX394927B; related US 11,251,723 B2, US 11,563,388 B2, US 11,837,971 B2. - WO2020229944A1: applicant "Individual", inventor Garret Moddel, priority 2019-05-10, published 2020-11-19. [web: https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2020229944A1/en] - Other titles seen in search results, not opened: US11258379B2 "Quantum noise power devices"; a Moddel "Systems for driving the generation of products using quantum vacuum fluctuations"; "Enhanced quantum vacuum energy devices"; US20200395872A1.

Third-party patents citing Haisch-Moddel (priority 3, not opened): US20190207537A1 "Piezoelectric Zero-point Power Units" (mentions "7,379,286 issued to Haisch and Moddel"); US20180059704A1 "Zpe magnetic battery"; US20230208321A1 "Thrust Production via Quantized Inertia" (mentions a Casimir cavity); "Method and equipment for quantum vacuum energy ...".

Bearing on claims

  • Historical record: the patent passed from Jovion to the Regents of the University of Colorado shortly after grant (June 2008). Licensing back to Jovion is unknown.
  • The co-inventor's later patents move from gas-flow orbital shifts to Casimir-cavity MIM devices. These are related work by the same inventor and are not the same mechanism as claims 1-2.