Velocity Flow Petitions for Post-Grant Review of All 22 Claims of a DCL Camera-Enabled Loader Patent.

The parties and the patent

The proceeding is Velocity Flow Technologies Corp. v. DCL, Inc., PGR2027-00005. Velocity Flow Technologies Corp. is the sole real party in interest. U.S. Patent 12,534,313 is titled Camera-Enabled Loader System and Method. It issued to DCL, Inc. as assignee on January 27, 2026, from an application filed April 22, 2024, that is a continuation in a chain claiming priority to a provisional application filed June 20, 2019. The petition challenges all claims 1 to 22.

Timing and eligibility for post-grant review

A post-grant review petition must be filed within nine months after the patent issues, 35 U.S.C. 321(c). The '313 patent issued on January 27, 2026, and the petition was filed on October 27, 2026, the last day of that period. Post-grant review is available only for patents subject to the America Invents Act's first-inventor-to-file provisions, Leahy-Smith America Invents Act sec. 6(f)(2)(A), which reach any patent that contains or contained at any time a claim with an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013, AIA sec. 3(n)(1). The earliest application in the '313 patent's priority chain was filed June 20, 2019.

What the claims cover

Claim 1 covers a bulk loading system for delivering bulk material through a hatch opening into a storage compartment of a bulk transport vehicle in a loading area. The system includes a loading spout assembly with a spout adapted to move in two vertical directions; a movable spout support that moves in at least two horizontal directions within a planar region, which is smaller than the loading area and extends horizontally beyond the spout's reach zone, to center the spout over the hatch opening; a camera coupled to the spout support for capturing and analyzing images in real time; and a programmable logic controller that centers the spout based on those images when the hatch opening is in the reach zone and then fills the compartment.

The grounds

Ground 1 challenges all claims 1 to 22 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) for lack of written description of a "planar region" limitation. The petition says the applicant added that limitation by amendment to independent claims 1 and 9 during prosecution, included it in independent claim 20, which was itself added during prosecution, and that every other claim depends from one of those three. Ground 2A challenges all claims 1 to 22 as indefinite under section 112(b) based on that same limitation. Ground 2B separately challenges claim 6 as indefinite under section 112(b), contending that its "object recognition tool for measuring a surface area of the hatch opening" is a means-plus-function term under section 112(f) without a disclosed algorithm as corresponding structure. Ground 3A challenges claims 1 and 6 as obvious under section 103 over U.S. Patent 5,881,780 in view of the Cognex In-Sight 8000 Series Vision System and its documentation and Chinese Patent Application Publication CN 109160315 A. Ground 3B challenges claim 18 as obvious over those three references and U.S. Patent 9,532,504. The petition says the '780 patent is also assigned to DCL and was before the examiner during prosecution of the '313 patent.

Related matters

The petition lists DCL, Inc. v. Velocity Flow Technologies Corp., No. 2:26-cv-02201 (D. Kan.), and says DCL has asserted claims 1, 6, and 18 of the '313 patent in that case. DCL filed the suit on April 14, 2026. Its one-count complaint alleges that Velocity's loading systems infringe at least claim 1 directly and by inducement, and alleges, on information and belief, contributory infringement and willfulness. It seeks a permanent injunction, damages with enhancement for willfulness, attorney's fees, and a jury trial. Velocity answered and filed a counterclaim on June 9, 2026, and the court entered a scheduling order on July 6, 2026.

What to watch next

Under 37 CFR 42.207(b), DCL may file a preliminary response within three months of the notice according the petition a filing date. Under the USPTO's interim Director discretionary process, any discretionary denial brief from DCL is due within two months of that notice. Watch for the notice, those filings, and the institution decision.