Look at these frivolous BD related lawsuits and such

[Krayge2469]

Patent holders are notorious for being as ABSOLUTELY ambiguous as possible so as to allow wiggle room for someone to invent a legitimate technology and then, once the tech takes off, to try and use some vague patent to squeeze the companies for royalties. I also have some "things that make ya go hmm" thoughts rollin around the back of my head on the timing as well. ie, she kept her fat yap shut until the tech that she thought could most closely fit her ambiguous design was the "winner" and then was suddenly "oh noez! someone totally ripped my idea off!" it's far too convenient and if she'd said something when the tech showed up then she'd have nothing to sue for cause BD may have gone under with the looming threat of the lawsuits.

the whole thing just screams "shakedown" and is another potential weapon in the belt of those trying to fix the patent system to avoid crap like this. i still think there should be some kind of a "saturation point" law. when your "patent" is being infringed upon, it's up to you to notice and call someone on it but, once it hits a certain marketshare it becomes public domain if you haven't acted upon it sooner. all these ppl waiting to try and sue until after the supposed infringement has taken a solid foothold on whatever industry is involved is bull. no single patent infringement will wildfire across the country in a week and these ppl would then suddenly be out of luck. common sense...the patent system has NONE.

[CobraComander]

cut her brake lines

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by Krayge2469

Patent holders are notorious for being as ABSOLUTELY ambiguous as possible so as to allow wiggle room for someone to invent a legitimate technology and then, once the tech takes off, to try and use some vague patent to squeeze the companies for royalties.

Agreed. They'll sue Company A because their product is closely related on one end of the spectrum, and then sue Company B because their product is closely related on the OTHER end of the spectrum. Nevermind that if you compare the two products, they are NOTHING alike. It is the legal equivalent of having your cake and eating it, too.

Now, that said, as someone who holds a few copyrights, trademarks and IP myself, I believe in protecting original work and creativity from unfair use or theft, but I'm also very reasonable. Sometimes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[Grubert]

Dreier LLP Obtains Settlement Agreements with Sony, Sanyo, Exceed and Lucky Light in Landmark LED Patent Case

Companies agree to license patents covering crucial LED technology in case brought by Columbia Professor Emerita Gertrude Neumark Rothschild

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080527/nytu028.html?.v=101

Professor Rothschild is very pleased that both Sony and Sanyo, and other major electronics makers have recognized her major scientific contributions to LED and LD technology

I bet she would be pleased. Nudge, nudge.

[Beta Man]

it may have also taken her a long time to learn they were infringing on her patent, and it may have taken her a long time to put her evidence/case together..... let's not jump to conclusions to say "oh they won" because more than likely her patent would have been infringed upon by more than just Blu-Ray, so I don't think she was waiting.... believe it or not... this "War" that everyone talks about wasn't as public as you may want to believe.

[Anthony P]

it may have also taken her a long time to learn they were infringing on her patent, and it may have taken her a long time to put her evidence/case together..... let's not jump to conclusions to say "oh they won" because more than likely her patent would have been infringed upon by more than just Blu-Ray, so I don't think she was waiting.... believe it or not... this "War" that everyone talks about wasn't as public as you may want to believe.

no, the trick is that you need to wait until something is established enough. Then you jump in with the patent infringement. The companies are stuck, they can't re-invent to change it so that no claim can be made, they are stuck while it is in court (why the claimant asks for -not available in the US, like she did), so what can you do? just talk with the claimant until an agreement is made. If you do it too early then the companies might be able to change it enough to prove relatively fast that the person did not have a legit claim.

[CptGreedle]

This is really nothing. It would be easy to settle this out of court, and I am sure she can not afford a long drawn out court battle herself.
If it is not dismissed, Sony et al will pay her off, and it will not cost them much. I doubt we will see much on this if anything later.
Just seems like one of those inevitable "oh its new technology and I want a piece of it" lawsuits to me.
If I am wrong, the lady should try to settle out of court too, cause nothing good will happen from a law suit over this and it is HIGHLY doubtful she would have done anything with the technology herself.

[blu2]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

This is really nothing. It would be easy to settle this out of court, and I am sure she can not afford a long drawn out court battle herself.
If it is not dismissed, Sony et al will pay her off, and it will not cost them much. I doubt we will see much on this if anything later.
Just seems like one of those inevitable "oh its new technology and I want a piece of it" lawsuits to me.
If I am wrong, the lady should try to settle out of court too, cause nothing good will happen from a law suit over this and it is HIGHLY doubtful she would have done anything with the technology herself.

If you read a few posts up Sony and 3 others already have settled and have licensed the patents:

"Dreier LLP Obtains Settlement Agreements with Sony, Sanyo, Exceed and Lucky Light in Landmark LED Patent Case".