Testifying expert representing ThinkOptics in an action for patent infringement concerning video games, specifically the human interface of the Nintendo Wii.
February 15, 2015: Settled after an inter partes re-examination.
Particle counter showing gold mirror
This was quite an unusual situation. Dr. Aleksandr L. Yufa had several patents relating to optical particle counting, and tried to get various companies to license them. I don’t know if any actually signed up, but obviously some didn’t, because he sued several manufacturers and users of these technologies for infringement. The unusual part was that Dr. Yufa was acting pro se, that is, he was acting as his own lawyer.
Read more…An interesting though brief patent interference case concerning flat-panel solar concentrators. The plaintiff (Morgan) had filed a continuation patent application, which is a means of getting additional claims out of a previously-filed specification. The new patent gets the same priority date as the old one, so you don’t have to worry about later art (such as that of the competitor whom you want to pay you royalties), but you don’t get the usual 20-year patent lifetime. Morgan then came after Banyan.
Read more…It isn’t easy defending an IP lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas.
This was a long-running case alleging patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. Chipmaking company Intersil Inc. wanted to get into the market for ambient light sensors (ALS). An ALS is a tiny chip that goes into phones and other battery-powered devices, which lets the processor know how brightly lit the device’s surroundings are. That lets it adjust display brightness automatically to compensate, which saves battery power in dim surroundings and keeps the display from being too bright or too dim.
Read more…Drift and 1/f Noise at 70-90 °C
Sometimes you have to find out things that aren’t in the datasheet, and even the manufacturer may not know.