Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Sunday 23 March 2008, 2:36 AM
Light and dark with Luxim and Ceravision
So it was with some curiosity that I watched a video by one of my American ZDNet comrades-in-tech, Michael Kanellos. He reported on a Silicon Valley company, Luxim, that had a breakthrough technology - a very high efficiency, high brightness lighting technology that worked by coupling microwave power very efficiently into a small capsule of gas, which... oh, you've heard that before?
To the untutored eye, it looks remarkably like the two companies are doing the same thing in the same way. And curiously, neither mentions the other. That can only mean one thing...
Google soon confirms my worst fears: they're in court over patents. I did try to dig into the case to find out who did what first to whom, but when you uncover sentences like this one -
"In Luxim v Ceravision the question was the jurisdiction of the Comptroller. In particular, the issue was whether a hearing officer of the Comptroller General of the UK Intellectual Property Office was incorrect to refuse a request by one party to decline to deal with entitlement proceedings in favour of the High Court."
- you realise quite quickly that this is not an area into which fools should rush. I'm pleased to note that my very favourite IP law blog, IPKat, is keeping a beady whisker on the case, which may in a decade or two actually resolve.
Its hard to over-emphasise the importance of high-efficiency lighting; both companies doubtless have their nostrils filled with the scent of the extra-large pie to come. Assuming that nobody actually did steal anything from anybody, wouldn't the sensible thing be to stop paying lawyers and start sharing out that pie ASAP?
PreviousComments on this post
Rupert, when was the last time than anyone did "the sensible thing" once lawyers were involved?
In actuality, from the beginning, Luxim knew quite well who had invented their RF plasma light technology, and it wasn't anyone affiliated with Ceravision. Hence, they had no intention on sharing the rights to what they, and only they, had rightful claim to. As of today the case between Luxim and Ceravision is closed (not by settlement, but by legal judgement in Luxim's favor). See the link below:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-26-2008/0004780791&EDATE=
Ceravision unable to establish priority of invention
SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 26, 2008
"LUXIM Corporation, a pioneer and volume manufacturer of solid state high-intensity light solutions, today announced that it has prevailed in a patent dispute initiated by Ceravision.
The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled against Ceravision in an interference proceeding begun in January 2006. For the past two years, Ceravision has claimed rights to certain subject matter covered by LUXIM's issued U.S. Patent No. 6,737,809. Ceravision's claim was based on a patent application that Ceravision alleges to have acquired when it purchased assets of a company in bankruptcy. In its recent judgment, the Board held that Ceravision failed to prove priority of invention, leaving LUXIM's rights in its patent undisturbed.
Commenting on the judgment, LUXIM's Chief Executive Officer, Tony McGettigan, noted, "We are extremely pleased with the judgment. We have always been confident of our case and we see this ruling as an important validation of the integrity of our Intellectual Property."
The ruling comes at a significant time for LUXIM. Having established
its breakthrough LIFI(TM) solid state high-intensity lighting solutions in
the rear-projection TV market, the company is now bringing LIFI to a range of applications that will gain from the technology's superb energy efficiency and reliability. These applications include instrumentation, entertainment, architecture and street lighting."
Luxim will introduce their technology to a larger audience next week in Frankfurt Germany at the largest lighting show in the world (130,000+ attendees), Light & Building, April 6-11th. They will also be displaying product at LightFair in Las Vegas the following month.
http://light-building.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/home.html
