I was watching the business news this morning and heard them make mention of litigation against Toyota that would prevent them from importing any hybrid Prius or Highlander should the plaintiff be successful. I thought, "Surely that can't be true" but did a quick search on the web and came up with this article: http://www.autoserviceworld.com/issues/ISA...&issue=01112006 What are the chances that this litigation and said ban could come to fruition? I'm looking to buy a Prius in May or June, so hopefully even if it does happen, it will be well after that!
http://priuschat.com/US-Trade-Commision-to...ent-t15991.html No need to hit the panic button yet... h34r:
Here's MSNBC's story Paten Probe on Prius Hmmm...I betcha the big three wouldn't be too upset. Conspiracy theorists watch out! h34r: h34r:
US patent system desperately needs reform. It is very easy to get patent granted w/o due diligence of ensuring no prior art exists. The worst could happen is if one uses the patent to sue others and the patent got voided in court. Still, when that happens, no consequence on plantiff's part (other than lawyers' fee). I have filed and got 5 patents granted on behalf of companies I worked for over the years. I can only tell you that Most Europe and some advanced Asian countries have better patent system than ours. To me, Soloman vs Toyota case is just a matter of whether Toyota want to settle it out of court or pay them off under the table. You will see Prius, no doubt. Even if push comes to shove, the core disputed portion can always be replaced with other technology with the same function without infringing. I don't think it will go that far.
US Patent reform is underway. Here in D.C., I know a handfull of patent owners, a handful of patent lawyers and one guy who was working on a contract for the USPO integration into the World Intellectual Property Organization. The contract turned out to be a mess (the prime was Northrop Grumman, I believe) - but it is in fact underway and they're developing a very large web-services/NLP based system integrating the 7 *big* countries for patents (US, Japan, Germany, etc). Of course, it's already way over budget and way years over due.... Dave
The financial profile for Solomon Tech doesn't look so hot. Looks like they're burning through venture capital and need some cash, hence the lawsuit. I hope Toyota goes all the way on this one. Jan
