[QuadList] Patents which threaten ANYONE using LEDs for camera lighting

[Tim Stoffel]

To all,
    I received this rather interesting email. If this is true, it sounds
like LitePanels has gotten a little too big for their britches, and
needs to be set in their place! I love Litepanels' products, but they
have always seemed kind of arrogant to me.

Tim Stoffel

--

LightPanels, a division of Vitec, a British corporation, is on the verge
of a major patent victory that will adversely affect the way you do
business. The claim? ANYTIME, ANYONE uses LED's to provide ANY KIND of
illumination for ANY KIND of camera, they are VIOLATING LightPanels'
patents!



These patents do not just affect the broadcast video and film production
industry, they also affect:
      * Law Enforcement
      * Forensic Imaging
      * Security and Surveillance cameras
      * Cell Phone Cameras
      * Event Videographers
      * Live Event Production
      * Educational and Religious Media
      * Scientific Imaging and Microscopy
      * Industrial Control and Machine Vision
      * Medical Examination and Surgery

Their outrageous claims will adversely affect an extraordinary range of
industries, manufacturers and end-users, most of whom are, unwittingly,
violating LitePanels' many claims on the use of LED illumination for
image capture. 

Despite a wealth of existing "prior art" and the demonstrably "obvious"
application of existing technology, both of which should easily have
resulted in their dismissal, LitePanels has been granted a succession of
extraordinarily broad and abusive patents by the U.S. Patent Office.

The International Trade Commission has been deciding the merits of these
patents and, while they have not issued a final ruling, they appear to
be inclined towards ruling in LitePanels' favor. Their decision will not
only determine the immediate question of exclusion of a handful of
companies but will largely determine the future for any industry using
LED's for camera illumination by making it much easier for LitePanels to
bring suit against any company in U.S. courts - foreign or domestic - in
the future.

But it's not too late! How YOU can affect their decision!

At the moment, and for only a few more days during this period of public
comment, you have the opportunity to persuade the ITC of the severe
adverse effects your industry would suffer were it to rule on behalf of
LitePanels and ban other LED lights for use in video, film, photography
or any other image capture.

There are TWO ways to do this:

First of all, SIGN THE PETITION here
http://patentfreeled.com/sign-the-petition!

Secondly, you can submit your own views to the ITC by addressing several
questions from the ITC and which are provided here:
http://www.usitc.gov/secretary/fed_reg_notices/337/337_804_1.pdf. 

A sample response is provided here:
http://patentfreeled.com/sample-response. 

You can forward your concerns to the ITC by emailing them to us at the
following address by Monday, October 15: patentfreeled at gmail.com. After
that, it's too late!

That's it! We know the ITC is reading your responses and will take
seriously thoughtful and considered arguments in support of our
industries and our customers and against the granting of monopoly status
to a company which neither deserves it nor is capable of serving your
market.



Thank you! Together, we can defeat this threat!



http://patentfreeled.com



Note: Your email address will not be transferred to any other party. We
do not expect to send further emails to you in our efforts to defeat
these patents.