Slashdot Mirror
Magnet Patent Suits
toybuilder writes: "Magnequench holds a key patent on high-power neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets that they claim is worth almost 1/2 of the world's permanent magnet market. These magnets are in use everywhere including motors in CD/DVD drives and in actuators in camcorders. They are suing a whole lotta companies including Compaq and HP. You can see the AP newswire at Yahoo or read the company's press release."
I really don't see why Compaq, Sony and every other tech manufacturer you can name should be sued because they're using the 'illegal' magnets in their products, unless they are actually manufacturing them. How much responsibility should a company have to audit their supplier? How can anyone be expected to make something if they have to keep going over their suppliers books?
Why stop here? What happens if I work for Compaq's Magnet Supplier, and I get sexually harassed while on the job. Shouldn't I be able to sue Compaq? Aren't they somehow responsible for... well, something?
If it's a valid case, sue the magnet manufacturers, not the 'end users' such as Compaq and Sony.
Those little magnets are just awesome. I've been salvaging magnets from failed and obsolete disk drives for years, and have a nice collection of these insanely strong critters. My best acquisition was a set of four that came out of a nine-platter SCSI drive.
I love handing a pair of these little magnets to an unsuspecting guest, and ask them to separate them for me. One guy actually told me they were glued together, until I showed him how to slide the magnets apart to separate them.
Another good trick to do with an old (but functional) drive, before you take its guts out: take the cover off, hook the drive up, and run fsck on its contents while you mess with its guts. Touch the center of the platter stack to slow them down. Use a marker to write on the spinning platters. Put your finger on the center of rotation of the arms the R/W heads are mounted on. See how much abuse the drive will take and still function (I was kind of surprised).
I also like to salvage the disk-platter assemblies and set them out as objets d'art. They're really quite pretty!
--Jim
What we are witnessing, and living through, is the decline of our civilization. This country was founded on high ideals and moral principles. Sadly, the ultimate goal today is to ruthlessly make as much money as possible. The current rampant abuse of the patent system is just the tip of the iceberg.
At one time the "American Dream" had little to do with money directly. It used to be the notion that one could go to a free country and achieve everything they were capable of, without governmental hinderence. For some people this was the practice of their non-mainstream religion, for others it was the persuit of philosophies or studies suppressed elsewhere, for other the chance to explore the unknown, and, yes, for some it was the opportunity to persue wealth.
Now, the media have all come together and redefined the "American Dream" solely in terms of the persuit of wealth, even going so far as to equate it with winning the lottery (as if, prior to the 20th century, there had ever even been such an absurd notion).
At one time laws were intended to benefit society, and the production of wealth was but one component in an entire series of concepts which together were required to benefit society (others included free education, libraries, fire department and water services, land grants, etc.) This is not to say society was ideal, as at the same time there were horrific things going on (the enslavement of black Americans, the wholesale theft of land from native Americans, etc.), but only to point out that, at one time, laws and politicians were expected to serve the voting population of the country, and to a fair degree did so.
Now there isn't even the pretense of laws in the United States serving the American public, much less society as a whole. Is it any wonder, with our willingness as individuals (by and large) to sell every ideal down the river in the name of profit and income, that our government, as our representatives, behaves any differently?
Disgusting, yes, Reprehensible, yes. Self defeating and ultimately destructive (particularly with respect to government granted monopolies such as patents, copyrights, and other forms of IP), yes. But, given the direction the majority of the American people chose to go in 1980 and have continued toward since, hardly surprising. Fortunately for us, and the world, these sorts of things are self correcting, even if it means the US economy stagnating and even going third world before people become aware enough to start demanding the kinds of reforms which are necessary.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
This is more than the usual stupid patent/copyright cases here. It illustrates a lot of the issues that need to be considered about patents, copyright, and intellectual property.
And I strongly reccomend people write Assistant Majority Whip Mike Pence (Republican, Indiana) on his statement. Let him know the above points, let him know the issues.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
No. There is no blanked law covering Intellectual Property Rights.
Patents do not have to be defended. You can selectively enforce them however you want.
Trademark is what you are thinking of; trademark must be enforced, or it no longer has meaning.
However.. I'm puzzled by Past Damages. I was under the impression that with Patent, you cannot claim past damages, only future dealings. You can't say 'We just discovered this company has been using our patented technology for the last 20 years'. Unless you can prove the company knowingly violated your patent (ie: you asked them before and they ignored you) you're probably out of luck.
You would probably not want one as a fridge magnet. It would probably bend the front of your fridge as you pry it off.
If you ever have a hard drive go bad, you should get yourself a set of tiny torx drivers and disassemble it. You will find a pair of insanely strong magnets around the head positioning coil.
Watch your fingers, when those magnets take a notion to slam together they will pinch through your flesh.
note: the preceding should not be construed as instructions to bang your office mates computer up and down while operating in order to acquire a bad hard drive.
- Crusadio
Interestingly, the U.S. was the "China" of its day when the country was first founded (with a little more freedom for its citizens, of course). Cheap manufacturing, a lack of regard for copyrights and patents from other countries. Plus, the U.S. defaulted on its debts quie a bit.
Slightly hypocritical of us to complain about people doing that to us, now...
Some other people have noted that Magnequench is a Chinese company -- but their World Headquarters is in Anderson, Indiana. So they look like a U.S. firm. They have a "Technology Center" in the RTP area, just up the road from me. They make their materials in China. The Chairman of their Board is Chinese.
However, according to their "timeline," General Motors, Sumitomo Metals and the Chinese Academy of Sciences all discovered neodymium-iron-boron magnets in 1982. Magnequench was created as a "business unit" of GM in 1986. Then, in 1995,
So, yes, they appear to be a Chinese company now.
Apparently Sumitomo Special Metals Co. licensed the magnet technology to San Huan New Material High-Tech Inc., which sells the stuff through Beijing San Huan International Trading Co. Sumitomo has this notice on their website:
Sumitomo is a Japanese company that got its start in 1918 as Sumitomo Steel Works, Ltd. So it appears that, even though GM invented the stuff here, they sold it to the Chinese who now license it from the Japanese.
Ninbo Konit Industries Inc. is the only Chinese licensee of Magnequench and Sumitomo. They are also the largest manufacturer of NdFeB magnets in China. They are located in the "Ningbo Economic and Technical Development Zone" in Xiaogang, China. I.e., one of the pseudo-capitalist (mercantilist, really) enclaves in otherwise Communist China. Konit is actually owned by San Huan High-Tech New Materials. Apparently Tridus of Rancho Domingo, California founded San Huab New Materials in a joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Science. They claim to be "the only legitimate importing and marketing company for Chinese Sintered Neodymium Iron-Boron permanent magnets in North America."
Apparently these infringement suits have been going on for a while. In 1995, a suit was originated in the PRC and Hong Kong by Crucible Materials Corporation against San Huan New Materials, Tridus and Ningbo Konit, among others. Violation of patent #4,588,439 ("Oxygen containing permanent magnet alloy") was found and a Cease and Desist issued.
- - - - -
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
You know, aside from the obvious "yet-another-patent"-ness of this, there actually are some interesting points to be made, that if anyone (!) had bothered to read the actual article(s), they might have picked up on.
For instance, "Magnequench" is not some Johnny-come-lately. They started as a division of GE back in the mid-'80s. The magnet technology was originally discovered in 1982, and they've had a production plant in operation since 1986. They have physical plants in both the US and China. They actually produce the products that they are suing over, as opposed to a lot of the business-method parasites usually discussed in these forums.
And incidentally, in 1995 the whole shebang was acquired by a Chinese holding company. Yes, a Chinese company suddenly has the potential to drastically affect a large portion of the American computer-manufacturing market. Does anyone think *that* might have interesting repurcussions worth discussing?
And FYI, here is the link to Magnequench's patent guide, which actually lists all of their patents (see especially 5172751), including their so-called philosophy, in case anyone feels like doing more than just barking today.
Neither am I, but I do know the difference between trademark law and patent law. A patent holder does not Not NOT need to defend it in order to maintain it. They can choose to enforce it selectively, at a late date, or otherwise, any time in the duration of the patent.
The parent post is a good candidate for -1: Misinformative moderation.
That'd be funny. The yahoo article did say "destruction of products owned by the defendants", though, so I wouldn't worry about your personal CDRW drive motor too much.
It does make you wonder how in the world everyone got to be using that magnet material without *realizing* it was under patent, though. There's gotta be a story there - maybe a "publish the method but forget to mention the patent" story a la LZW compression? Anyone have more info?
Now I guess I'll have to pile all of my kid's art work on the floor next to the fridge.