M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious™ on Sharp Corporation’s U.S. Patent No. 7,057,689

Date:  Fri, 2011-02-04

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – February 4, 2011 – M·CAM, Inc. released its Patently Obvious™ report today on the patent holdings of Sharp Corporation highlighted in Sharp Corporation v. AU Optronics Corp. et al.

On January 24, 2011, Sharp filed two complaints claiming infringement of seven of its LCD-related patents. A lawsuit was filed in Delaware against AU Optronics Corp. and a complaint was filed with the ITC naming AU Optronics, BenQ Corp., Haier Group, LG Electronics, SANYO Electric Co., TCL Corp. and VIZIO, Inc. Sharp has previously tested the litigation waters with one of these seven properties: U.S. Pat. No. 7,057,689 (hereafter ”˜689). In August 2007, Sharp filed an infringement claim in the Eastern District of Texas against Samsung. The case was finally settled outside of court in February 2010, and Sharp has apparently decided to recycle its ammunition in these new complaints.

Using the M·CAM DOORS™ analytic platform, an intellectual property analysis of the ”˜689 patent was conducted in order to understand its strength and defensibility in the face of prior and concurrent art innovation. The innovation space surrounding the ”˜689 patent and its patent family members was examined to determine which patent or patents may provide alternatives to or alter the value of Sharp’s holdings.

The question stands: are Sharp’s infringement claims valid, or will potential weaknesses in its asserted patents backfire and injure Sharp’s portfolio?

M·CAM’s Patently Obvious™ is a weekly report providing visibility into potentially unconsidered alternatives, including art in the public domain, to patent holdings across a variety of technology areas.

M·CAM, Inc. is a global, full-service intellectual property and rights (IP&R) and intangible asset financial services firm. We provide the technical and financial systems that allow public and private markets to use IP&R and IA for regulated transactions in banking, securities, insurance, and public innovation investment and technology procurement. From our pioneering work in creating the world’s first standards-based innovation collateralization financial products for banking and securities to our work in grassroots innovator enablement and patent quality assurance programs, M·CAM provides the mechanism to balance the interests of public and commercial sectors to support and build thriving economies.

The M·CAM Patently Obvious™ report on the Sharp patent can be found HERE.