Alright Reef Builders readers, it’s time for us to mobilize! Almost exactly a year ago we broke the news that a very large company (Orbitec) had been granted an overreaching patent regarding the use of LEDs to grow aquarium corals, and that they had already taken down PFO through litigation regarding this very patent. In the 12 months since, many LED reef lighting products have been shelved for fear of a lawsuit and the LED reef lighting scene has been greatly impoverished for it. Now, Orbitec has filed a continuation of their patent in order to more broadly restrict aquarium LED manufacturers and if you would like to prevent Orbitec’s choke-hold on LED reef lights this is our time to act. Anyone can file a Third-Party Submission which presently is the only mechanism that allows one to attack the validity of a pending printed patent application. Third-Party Submissions are made pursuant to 37 CFR 1.99, which requires a list of publications to be considered by the Patent Office in reviewing the subject patent application. The filing cost for a Third-Party Submission is $180. Alternatively, you can forward any material references regarding LED use with aquariums that may be considered as prior art. You can email references to [email protected] and they will be forward to the appropriate counsel for submission. Simply typing “What is Prior Art” in Google will provide multiple links defining what is considered prior art. One last note, make sure your prior art is before Dec 15 2004. We hope that you will join us in providing a mountain of evidence to overturn the bogus Orbitec LED patent and help to open up the floodgates of cheap and exciting LED lighting for reef aquarium use.
