A USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board hearing on November 4, 2019 included sworn testimony from Anna Stork as a named inventor on the '629 patent.
On November 4, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board held a hearing during which Anna Stork provided testimony as one of the named inventors on U.S. Patent No. 9,347,629, the patent covering LuminAID's inflatable solar-powered light. The hearing transcript, preserved in official USPTO proceedings, documents her direct participation in the legal defense or examination of the patent's validity.
Testifying before a federal administrative tribunal represents a significant and relatively rare experience for an independent inventor, requiring Stork to substantiate technical details of the invention's conception, development, and reduction to practice — often under scrutiny from opposing counsel or examiners challenging the patent's claims.
This hearing reflects the high stakes surrounding the '629 patent nearly a decade after its original provisional filing, illustrating how foundational inventions in growing markets like solar lighting and disaster relief technology can become subject to sustained legal contention. Stork's willingness to testify personally underscores her role not just as a co-founder and product designer, but as a firsthand technical witness to her own invention's origins.
Such proceedings are a critical, if less publicly visible, part of an inventor's legacy, demonstrating the ongoing effort required to defend intellectual property long after a product has reached market success.