The story which we posted two days ago about Orbitec suing PFO is just a small glimpse of the dramatic saga that will affect the future of LEDs in the marine aquarium trade for a long time to come. Following our story, Orbitec released a damage controlling non-statement which did very little to explain their position but in their defense, they nor PFO nor anyone involved in this case is at liberty to discuss any details pertaining to legal proceedings of this case. We get that. On the one hand, PFO is clearly violating no less than three components of Orbitec’s patent and it is probable that PFO was in a financial hurt before they started feeling the pain of this lawsuit. On the other hand, the claims of the Orbitec’s patent are very broad, obvious and they were clearly preceeded by much prior art even before this patent was filed. Whether or not Orbitec and their subsidiary Planet-llc intend to release a light fixture for the aquarium trade, we regret that Orbitec and PFO were not able to come to an agreement about this lawsuit. We can’t imagine that breaking one of our industry’s best and most innovative companies is the cooth way for them to make an entrance. When taking in all the facts, we believe that Orbitec wants to go to court so they can validate their patent and use that precedent to intimidate any other potential players in the LED aquarium lighting market. A judge will decide in March or April whether this case will go to Jury trial. Please comment below.
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