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Boston U. Patent Lawsuits Hit Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Others
curtwoodward writes "First, we heard that Boston University — a private, four-year school overshadowed by neighbors like MIT and Harvard — was suing Apple for patent infringement. Well, sure, patent lawsuits in tech are an everyday thing, right? But it turns out this is not a one-off: BU has been quietly filing a barrage of patent lawsuits since last fall, all of them revolving around the same patents for LED and semiconductor technology. And the targets run the gamut, from Apple and Amazon to Samsung and several small companies that distribute or sell LEDs and other equipment. A couple of small guys have settled, but Amazon and Samsung are refusing. Still to come: Apple's response."
Is it's a US patent, the entity that imports the infringing item gets sued.
You can't sue someone in China to manufacturing it.
Yes, patent exhaustion applies when their was a licensed sale; however, that doesn't apply here. For BU to go after Apple and others, they would have to prove that they knew that these products were violating patents. I would think Amazon and others would simply give BU the information about their suppliers. Also there may be multiple middlemen here. For example Amazon sells a product that was manufactured that has technology in question. But the company that made the product actually bought it as a component from someone else and so on.
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On the surface yes, but with very little research you can find prior art reaching back to 1972 (in the cae of Blue GaN LEDs) http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F3683240 and easily 1989 for the process http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F4819058
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There are two parts you missed:
Except as otherwise provided in this title . . . any patented invention . . .
You only quoted part (a) of US 271 which deals with direct infringing of a whole invention. Part (c) deals with contributory infringement of a part:
Whoever offers to sell or sells within the United States or imports into the United States a component of a patented machine, manufacture, combination or composition, or a material or apparatus for use in practicing a patented process, constituting a material part of the invention,knowing the same to be especially made or especially adapted for use in an infringement of such patent, and not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable for substantial noninfringing use, shall be liable as a contributory infringer.
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