ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 8/09
Homework 10: Patent Liability Analysis
Team Code Name: Home Enhancement Suite Group No. 10
Team Member Completing This Homework: Will Bouchonnet
E-mail Address of Team Member: wbouchon @ purdue.edu
Evaluation:
SCORE
/DESCRIPTION
10 /Excellent – among the best papers submitted for this assignment. Very few corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report.
9 /Very good – all requirements aptly met. Minor additions/corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report.
8 /Good – all requirements considered and addressed. Several noteworthy additions/corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report.
7 /Average – all requirements basically met, but some revisions in content should be made for the version submitted in the Final Report.
6 /Marginal – all requirements met at a nominal level. Significant revisions in content should be made for the version submitted in the Final Report.
* /Below the passing threshold – major revisions required to meet report requirements at a nominal level. Revise and resubmit.
* Resubmissions are due within one week of the date of return, and will be awarded a score of “6” provided all report requirements have been met at a nominal level.
Comments:
Grader: George Toh Score: 8/10
Good work. Could have done with a more detailed comparison of the patent and your product. Also, recommended action was vague.
1.0 Introduction
The Home Enhancement Suite is a home automation system that controls lighting, security, and a HDMI-CEC enabled entertainment device on an individual basis using RFID tags and readers to identify when an active user is present. When a valid ID is presented, the main control unit and adjusts all sub-systems for that user. The project will be expandable from one room, to an entire house. Overall the automation aims to make a simple and enjoyable home experience customizable for any user. There are several other products that either monitor the home systems mainly dealing with security using RFID or control a variety of devices autonomously using various sensing technologies. One case of literal infringement was found and our project would need to be changed if we were to market our product.
2.0 Results of Patent and Product Search
The first patent, number US 5,621,662, was filed on February 15, 1994 by L. Scott Humphries and others at Intellinet Inc. Their patent is for a home automation system that can control a variety of sub systems including lighting, security, entertainment, and HVAC systems. Every system is connected to a main host computer that controls the devices over a network. The computer uses a polling system to check each node of the system. All interfaces for each sub-system have a simple interfacing method making the use of the system straight forward. The Authors claim that their system that controls all of these said functions uses a network to provide centralized control of the sub-systems and also implements a watch dog timer [2]. They also claim that the controller will issue and receive messages from the nodes/sub-systems regarding their status and to check diagnostics [2]. These messages have very detailed and structures information. All user input is through a single push button interface that allows the user to turn on and off different combinations of sub-systems and set up other relevant information [2].
The next patent found, number US 6,912,429 B1, was filed on October 19, 2005 by Brent Bilger of Destiny Networks, Inc. His patent titled “Home Automation System and Method” describes a home automation system that uses a central control unit to communicate with sensors at entry/exit points and throughout the rooms to determine the occupancy state of the room. The controlled devices could be lights, TV’s, security systems, HVAC, fireplaces, etc. All controlled objects are said to be plug and play with the system [1]. The user’s settings of the controlled devices will travel with the user if they switch rooms. The author claims that the home automation uses a variety of motion, IR, and other sensors to detect whether the room is occupied, and if so the controller will actuate the devices in the room which the user has set to be controlled [1]. He continues on by claiming that the user will set what settings they desire when the room is occupied on one of two input devices attached to the controller. There are defined room modes that can be set up and saved such as reading, party, and watching television. Another claim of intrest is that a ID card can be presented to a reader in any room to override the current rooms settings [1]. The ID card reader uses bluetooth to sense when a valid card is present, and only two cards are issued in the house.
A third patent found, number US 2004/0212493 A1, was filed on June 25, 2003 by Louis A. Stilp is titled “RFID Reader for a Security Network.” The main purpose for the RFID reader is to allow/deny access into the security system. The RFID reader can also have other sensors or a camera in it to increase the security and monitor other information. The RFID reader can operate on a variety of frequencies and will transmit the information wirelessly to the master controller [3]. A user input control unit, much like a house alarming control with keypad, is also compadable with the system. The author claims the RFID reader can communicate with RFID transponder and wirelessly communicate with the rest of the security system including other RFID readers [3]. Also the RFID reader can detect an intruder or emergency such as fire or smoke. The reader can be simply mounted on a wall and contains a battery back up incase of power failure.
3.0 Analysis of Patent Liability
The main area of literal infringement is against the patent number US 6,912,429 B1 by Brent Bilger. Our project is automating lighting, a HDMI device, and door locks which are all covered in this patent. Our project and the patent both use a central control unit to monitor all the peripherals as well. One main difference is that all of our user input will be done through an online webserver instead of a physical user interface located in the home. Our project is using RFID cards to detect when a user enters or exits, not sensors like the patent describes. The patent does have an ID card to override the current settings, but uses Bluetooth not RFID. Our project will also use a hierarchy to determine which user will have control over the room similar to the method described in this patent.
One spot of possible infringement under the doctrine of equivalents is with patent number US 2004/0212493 A1 and the RFID reader we designed. Our project and the patent both read the RFID signal using a RFID transceiver from the transponder and then wirelessly transmits the data to a central controller or security system to see if the identification is valid or invalid, but the way we implement the reader is substantually different from the security system described in the patent.
Our project does not infringe on patent number US 5,621,662, the home automation system though. The patent does have a central control unit that communicates with several sub-systems, but the user must use an interface, of which there is only one, to set one of the system. Our system will be controlled through a web interface as mentioned before and use RFID to tell when a user is present. Because of these points, our project performs these tasks in a substantially different way than described in this patent.
4.0 Action Recommended
Because of the literal infringement that exists in our project, our team would need to take action to reach an agreement with the patent holder or redesign that part of the project. The main function of the project is what is described in the patent; with a different method sensing users and having them set the desired settings for the room. Most likely an agreement to pay royalties to be allowed to make our product would be needed. The RFID reader as stated in section 3.0 could also infringement. More research would need to be completed to see if our implementation of the reader in our system is novel compared to the patent listed. If it was too similar, the right to use the RFID reader would need to be obtained from the patent holder, or a different technology would have to be used for sensing the user in the room.
5.0 Summary
Through some research, several patents were found that our project might infringe upon. The home automation system is the most problematic, but could be dealt with if our project went to market. The other patents are things that our project does in a similar way, but in a substantially different way. More extensive patent searches should be done after the software and the whole project is finished up if we were to produce this product.
List of References
[2] / S. Humphries, "Home Automation System". United States of America Patent 5,621,662, 15 April 1997.
[3] / L. A. Stilp, "RFID Reader for a Security Network". United States of America Patent US 2004/0212493 A1, 29 October 2004.
-5-