Re: Insteon/X10

["Robert L Bass" <no-sales-spam@bassburglaralarms>]

>> It should be interesting to see how this all
>> shakes out.  SmartLabs might not have the
>> money to fight it out, especially if users
>> and dealers get tired of waiting for the vapor
>> to solidify.
>
> Perhaps you didn't read the whole article.

I didn't mean to imply that SmartLabs was a
party to that lawsuit, only that if they were to
be targeted by one of the others they might
not have the wherewithal to prevail.  Sorry for
the confusion.

> "Lutron is suing Leviton for infringing on
> patents that have to do with wall-box
> dimmers, RF transceivers in a junction
> box, and lighting control with two-way
> status/feedback..."
>
> "One of the patents in particular I've been
> told is pretty rock solid. Number (5,982,103)
> refers to an RF transmitter and/or receiver
> sharing the same wallbox as a switch or
> dimmer (See links and illustrations of all
> patents below)..."

The finder of fact will need to examine how
exclusive such a patent is and whether
public policy might prevent its enforcement.
If Leviton can show that the patent is so
broad as to prevent development of competing
technology the court can throw out the patent
and the lawsuit.

It's difficult to tell since there's apparently a
mistype in the quoted article.  I checked the
US Patent Office and they report "No such
patent number found."

> "Another patent, number 5,905,442 has to
> do with two-way controls, where the status
> of certain devices on the network can be
> transmitted to the controlling device, and
> the controllers can respond to those
> status reports. "

This, too, might be too broad a protection for
"public policy."  It's a matter for the court to
decide.  I wouldn't be surprised if several of
the major players developing Z-Wave products
decide to file amicus briefs in support of Leviton.