Posts Tagged: "Kid Tech"

How patent laws are harming children and America’s innovative future

The Young Inventor’s Showcase is nothing short of an amazing academic program in 56 Houston area grade schools. The program teaches grade school kids the entire innovation system from problem identification to the store shelves. The class wraps up with an inventor competition judged by members of the Houston Inventors Association… All of these inventions were disclosed without even a provisional patent application being filed. This isn’t just a concern for the Houston Young Inventors Showcase, but is a problem for all science fairs and similar events. It has always been a bit of a concern because once you disclose an invention it is no longer patentable in many countries, but up until March of 2013 disclosure in the U.S. prior to filing a patent application did not create a patent problem here.

Manhattan Jury Orders Nintendo to Pay $30 Million for Patent Infringement

A Manhattan federal jury recently ordered Nintendo Co. Ltd. to pay Tomita Technologies International, Inc. (“Tomita”) over $30 million in damages in a patent infringement case that concerned certain 3D technologies. Tomita, which originally filed the claim against Nintendo back in June of 2011, claimed that Nintendo’s 3DS hand-held video game system (which launched in March of 2011) infringed on Tomita’s patent called “Stereoscopic image picking up and display system based upon optical axes cross-point information” (also known as the ‘664 patent), which is technology that shows 3D images that can be viewed without the use of special 3D glasses. Nintendo has made it clear that it is confident that the verdict will be set aside and that it will not impact its continued sales of that gaming system or any of its other systems, software and accessories.

Toy Patent Litigation: Laser Pegs® Sues Lite Brix

Laser Pegs®, maker of the toy industry’s first lighted toy construction set, recently announced it is suing Lite Brix for unfair competition and willful patent and trade dress infringement.The filed complaint suggests that at a toy fair in 2011, Capriola was approached by Larry Rosen of Larose Industries LLC with an interest in investing in Laser Pegs. After a few arranged meetings to discuss the possible substantial investment, Rosen broke off ties with Capriola. He was later found to have secretly created and marketed Lite Brix.