Blue LED Inventor Nakamura Awarded $8.1 Million

redkingca writes "The New York Times (reg required) has an article about an $8.1 million settlement in the blue-LED royalty case. Mr. Nakamura created the blue LED while working for the Nichia Corporation but never received any bonuses or royalties for his invention. A lower court had awarded 20 billion yen, nearly $200 million, and ordered Nichia to pay Mr. Nakamura last year. The settlement came after the company appealed that ruling."

Comments

A great acheivement

[Lindsay Lohan]

Mr. Nakamura created the blue LED... A lower court had awarded 20 billion yen, nearly $200 million

Nice cut for a sweet invention--one that will change laser technology forever. Gallium Nitride LEDs have started to replace lightbulbs and fluorescent tubes for lighting. GaN based blue lasers allow data storage with much higher density than traditional red lasers, and there are many more application areas.

Here's an interesting article from ScienceWatch (no bloodsucking reg required) which goes into more detail on the history and application of this *very* cool technology.

Man... that's harsh. Good for Nakamura tho

[ackthpt]

My dad worked for decades for one of the largest corporations in the world, as an engineer and developed many things which were patented by the company. He got to hang the patent on the office wall, but got little if any compensation for it.. the view being that his salary was the compensation he'd agreed to under the terms of his employment. Inventing things was part of his job.

About 10 years ago a friend took another stance and left an employer after they patented his (very profitable) invention and licensed it, but gave him no bonus for it (the product incidental to their core competency.) He started his own consulting company and keeps all his IP now.

No reg required

[elecngnr]

For those who would like to read a similar article without having to give out information:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5 ?nn20050112a1.htm

and here:

http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=bluele dinventorse1105540939&area=news

Pretty nice chunk of change for this guy. Although the company made quite a cunk themselves off of his work.

No reg. link

[Clockwurk]

here

Please note...

[BJH]

...Nakamura held a press conference (Yahoo Japan link) after the settlement was reached, where he said he considered the result to be a "total loss", described the Japanese legal system as "rotten", and urged researchers in technical fields to move to the US (he currently works at the University of California).

Meanwhile, the CEO of Nichia held a separate press conference where he announced that real researchers do it for the joy of technical achievement, and not for mere monetary compensation. What an asshole...

Re:He was working for them at the time

[BJH]

In actual fact, the company tried for several years to abandon the line of research that eventually lead to his breakthrough, in favour of pursuing the same methods that other researchers had completely failed to get working.

Not to mention that he also spent his own money on some of the equipment used.

On top of which the company offered him a $200 "bonus" for his patent, which is estimated to be worth $1.2 billion to the company (in profit).

Re:The courts set a bad precident here...

[BJH]

No, there was a Japanese law enacted a while back that entitled employees to "fair compensation" for discoveries that result in large profits for their employer.

Of course, like most Japanese law, it lays down no guidelines whatsoever as to the meaning of terms like "fair", which is why Nakamura got the shaft and Nichia stands to make over a billion dollars.

This is why companies now have crazy IP rules

[Gadgetfreak]

Like my current employer. I had to sign over my rights to *ANY* invention, not just one that was invented on company time, or related to the business.
I'm a mechanical engineer, and I work for a company that makes nuclear submarines for the Navy. Sometimes, stuff is patented, but it's gov't technology anyways.
Point is, they're so anal about protecting themselves that they want to own everything.

If I invent the next Chia pet in my basement, they'll own it. And I know a lot of companies are like this, presumably because they can get away with it.

Re:What an awful precedent, though

[BJH]

Please note that under Japanese law, there is a provision for employees to be compensated for exceptional performance (which I would hope few people would deny was true of Nakamura's discovery).

So his lawsuit was based on a legal requirement for the company to pay him fairly.

japanese point of view

[jxyama]

the take in japan is that it's not as cut and dry as "one works for the company to invent, whatever profit derived from it is owned by the company and not to the inventor."

this is not the first lawsuit of this kind. inventor of aspartane (artificial sweetner) sued ajinomoto (company known for MSG) and won ~$1.5 million before.

basically, the feeling is that providing reasonable compensation for inventors, regardless of where technically the invention patent or methods belong to, is good for the morale of workers, provides incentives and thus advances the society as a whole and increases competitiveness of corporations. finally, providing reasonable compensation is also economically viable for the company.

he was awarded $8.1 million after his contribution to the invention was deemed to be 5%, instead of the 50% in the prior ruling. the original ruling resulted in ~$600 million settlement.

the company issued a statement saying it's glad that the invention of LED was attributed to more than just one person, as indicated by the reduction of Dr. Nakamura's contribution value by the court.

Re:Cheap

[Catbeller]

copyright v. patent.

A book is copyrighted, the ideas in it are not.
A patent is a protected idea, stated most simply.