Sony Blu-ray Under Patent Infringement Probe

Lucas123 writes "The US International Trade Commission said it will launch an investigation into possible patent infringements involving Sony's Blu-ray players and other technologies using laser and light-emitting diodes, such as Motorola's Razr phone and Hitachi camcorders. The investigation was prompted by a complaint filed in February by a Columbia University professor emerita who says she invented a method of using gallium nitride-based semiconductor material for producing wide band-gap semiconductors for LEDs and laser diodes in the blue/ultraviolet end of the light spectrum. Her complaint asks the ITC to block imports of LED and laser diode technology from Asia and Europe. The total market for all types of gallium nitride devices has been forecast at $7.2 billion for 2009 alone."

Comments

The plan is actually filled in this time...

[Digi-John]

1. Create technology
2. Wait for one design to win the market
3. Sue manufacturer
4. Profit!

Re:If you patent something

[ptbarnett]

He[r] is a clue: You going to role out a billion dollar item? do a fucking patent search.

Under current US patent law, searching for existing patents is effectively discouraged. "Willful" infringement can result in treble damages, in comparison to "inadvertent" infringement.

How about a patent in another country?

[reiisi]

There's a Japanese guy with a patent on blue-end LEDs, and most of the Japanese companies involved in that base their products on technology that comes under his patent.