Hands up if you have never heard of Gertrude Neumark = Rothschild? You'd have company. She's a retired Columbia University Professor with some = fundamental and apparently watertight patents in LED = technology. She is suing, to name a partial list Avago, Bacol, Cree, = Hitachi, Kingbright, LG Lite-On, Matsushita, Motorola, = Nokia, Pioneer, Rohm , Samsung, Sanyo, Seoul Semiconductor, = Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, Vishay ... over her = basic patents relating to the development on blue and UV = LEDs. She seeks to bar entry to the US of products which = violate her patent rights. While on some lists people were until recently proclaiming = how little luck she would have with people with such = extensive litigation ability, she has previously settled = (since 2002) with Osram, Nichia & Toyoda Gosei and this year = settled with some, including Lumileds, & Everlight Taiwan + = Seoul Semiconductor (just recently). "Rothschild began her research career in private = industry, working with Sylvania Research Laboratories in = Bayside, NY in the 1950s and later at Philips Laboratories = in Briarcliff Manor, NY before joining Columbia as a = professor of materials science in 1985. She conducted = research in the 1980s and =9290s into the electrical and = optical properties of wide-bandgap semiconductors that is = claimed to have been pivotal in the development of = short-wavelength emitting (blue, green, violet and = ultraviolet) diodes now used in consumer electronics." "The complaint (=91In the matter of Short-Wave Light = Emitting Diodes=92) alleged infringement by 34 firms of her = 1993 US patent 5,252,499 =91Wide band-gap semiconductors = having low bipolar resistivity and method of formation=92 = (covering a method of producing gallium nitride-based = semiconductors for LEDs and laser diodes emitting in the = blue, green, violet and ultraviolet end of the spectrum)." ______________________ Her patent http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=3DPTO1&Sect2=3DHITO= FF&d=3DPALL&p=3D1&u=3D%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=3D1&f=3DG&l=3D50&s1= =3D5252499.PN.&OS=3DPN/5252499&RS=3DPN/5252499 A wide band-gap semiconductor, such as a II-VI = semiconductor having low bipolar resistivity and a method = for producing such a semiconductor. To form this = semiconductor, atomic hydrogen is used to neutralize = compensating contaminants. Alternatively, the semiconductor = dopant and hydrogen are introduced into the undoped = semiconductor together, and later, the hydrogen is removed = leaving an acceptably compensation free wide band-gap = semiconductor. Inventors: Rothschild; G. F. Neumark (Hartsdale, NY) Appl. No.: 07/232,405 Filed: August 15, 1988 ______________________ The heart of the invention is sure to be so obvious = retrospectively to thos 'skilled in the art' that they must = now hate themselves forever. " Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, = a semiconductor is provided which has low bipolar = resistivity as well as a wide band-gap and a method for = producing such a semiconductor is also provided. The p-n = junction formed from the semiconductor has suitably low = compensation on both the p and the n side. To form this = semiconductor, atomic hydrogen is used to neutralize = compensating contaminants. By introducing hydrogen to the = semiconductor after it is doped, the compensating impurities = will be neutralized. In an alternative embodiment, the = dopant and hydrogen are introduced into the substrate = together and later, the hydrogen is removed." ______________________ http://gizmodo.com/370550/old-lady-sues-tech-giants-for-patents-bakes-c= akes-with-lasers http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/21/little-old-lady-to-take-down-sony-sa= msung-nokia-and-everyone-e/ http://gizmodo.com/tag/gertrude-neumark-rothschild/ Now if only I could think of .... R -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist