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Ultra Products, a lesser-known US manufacturer of power supplies and PC components, has filed suit against literally every PSU manufacturer for using its recently-patented modular design.
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Ultra Products, a lesser-known US manufacturer of power supplies and PC components, has filed suit against literally every PSU manufacturer for using its recently-patented modular design.
The patent system has clearly gone crazy, they're awarding ideas that form a very fundamental concept and allowing them to be so heavily back dated is a nightmare for manufacturers.
Surely some common sense has to be applied eventually? That if an idea is already in production, and has been for years, then you can't "back date" damages and awards.
Some details'd be good; patent number, where and when filed, that kind of thing - it's all very well fulminating about how the patent system's gone mad, but that kind of excludes two possibilities:
a) They really DID invent it first, in which case it's logical that they should be rewarded for doing so; or
b) They didn't, it's a frivolous application, and they'll get laughed out of court.
Bear in mind that a patent can be awarded and later revoked for obviousness, prior art, etc. They may have a patent, but that doesn't mean that it's a license to print money.
this is random imo, modular isnt exactly new, took them long enough too randomly say they have a patent. Atleast Xclio isnt getting sued :P, maybe they made it first :)?
Clever thing about this is there are only so many PSU manufacturers, so although there are maybe hundreds of brands they are mostly built for other companies, if they are built under license there could be a caveat that makes the actual manufacturer responsible.
The reason this is interesting though is that ULTRA have gone after those who sell rebranded units too.
Ultra were the first to makret with a modular PSU as far as I know - maybe others checked to see if there was a patent and decided to produce on the grounds there wasn't. This could really sting some big companies if it does come off though...
I had an Ultra modular PSU one.
It was OK for a while, then became unreliable. The modular cables weren't very flexible either.
If you're going to enforce a patent, at least make a decent product out of it.
Perhaps they have now...
Honestly, how can they justify cutting a wire and putting a plug on it patentable?
At the heart of it, it really is just another plug at the opposite end of the device.
Modular PSUs have been around for a long time now, how can they justify suing over a patent they've only just been awarded? Even if they win the case I can't imagine any damages would be significant, although it would mean all the other companies would need to stop making the modular PSUs.
Also, I have a modular printer, and a modular monitor, and modular speakers... I could go on. My point is can you patent an existing technology, just applied to a different product?
Its a good job the bloke who invented the wheel isn't still about....Quote:
Originally Posted by Mblaster
It seems like you can patent just about anything in America.
you could probably patent ya mam over there tbh :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Kumagoro
it's getting beyond a joke..
like that Audi advert
they filed several thousand patents while making 1 car!
just ridicilious!
I think this won't go to court... there are too many defendants... Ultra are looking for a out of court settlement... A couple of million bucks from each defendant should be enough :)
Ultra have no case seeing as it was a case modder who first came up with the modular pc idea. They just copied it.
This class action mentality is getting out of hand IMO...
do they really expect to be able to take so many companies, rich ones at that, to court and succeed?
they're wasting time, taxpayers' money, and not doing any good whatsoever