Patent Liability Analysis

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Patent Liability Analysis

Introduction:

The goal of infrared (IR) based laser tag system is to create a safe, projectile-free, interactive game of laser tag. An IR transmitter housed inside a gun will provide focused, non-coherent IR light (not a true laser). This IR source will be modulated via a microcontroller so that data may be sent on the projected IR beam. Providing a target for opposing players’ is accomplished by the IR receivers attached to a vest worn by the user. Each receiver passes incoming signals at a set frequency (38kHz) and attenuates all other frequencies, thus providing a filter for ambient light or other sources of noise. Each time a player wishes to shoot at another player, a trigger on the gun must be depressed. This signals the microcontroller, causing it to project an IR beam. The projection of the gun is also accompanied with a sound report, provided by a speaker on the gun, which may alert other users to the vicinity of an opposing player. When shot, LEDs on the vest will light up so other users may see that said user has been shot, and vibrating motors sewn into the vest will allow the user to feel that he/she has been shot. The embedded microcontroller will also manage the supply of “ammunition” (number of allowable shots), and will relay this information to the user through an LCD. When the user wishes to reload, the magazine on the gun must be removed for a set amount of time to effectively recharge the clip. The microcontroller will also manage the health of the user by counting the number of hits the user takes. When the user’s health has been depleted, the system will shut itself down. Each time a user is incapacitated (health depleted), an RF transmitter will emit an RF burst coded with said user’s information. Upon receiving this RF information, an LCD will display the kill so all other users can know when someone is removed from the game. Finally, a team selector switch and system reset button will be located on the back of the vest to keep the user from resetting the system or changing teams during the course of game play.

Many of the ideas that Group 9 has used in its IR based laser tag have been patented by other inventors. Virtually all of these patents use similar if not identical means of producing a “laser” or a beam of light. However, some of these patents use designs which differ enough from Group 9’s design to avoid infringement.

Results of Patent Search:

A search was made for existing patents in the United States which describe similar products or products which perform substantially the same function as Group 9’s IR based laser tag system. Searches were performed at both www.uspto.gov and www.patents.cos.com. A large number of patents were found in the search, But the following were the most notable:

1. Interactive light-operated toy shooting game (Patent No. 5,741,185)

April 21, 1998

Abstract: “The invention provides a toy light projector or light gun and player-worn and self-propelled toy targets which detect light emitted by a toy light gun, and a toy shooting game which includes at least one toy light gun, and at least one toy target. The game is played by a player attempting to "hit" a target which provides audio/visual effects upon detecting light projected by the gun. A main target contains a light detector and all of the circuitry and audio/visual components needed to play a game, and an auxiliary target may contain a light detector and only some of the components needed to play a game and be coupled to a main target to share components therein. A self-propelled target includes circuitry which provides pseudorandom (or other pre-programmed or random) motion to the target. The light gun emits a sound while it is on and ready to be fired, which can serve as a warning to an opposing player. Squeezing a trigger causes the gun to emit light with a first code, and pressing a reset button causes the gun to emit light with a second code. The circuitry in a target decodes the codes and registers and counts hits for light detected with the first code, ending the game when a given number of hits is counted. In response to light detected with the second code, the circuitry in a target resets the count of hits and starts a new game. The gun can thus remotely reset the target. The gun has a reload feature which requires that a player "reload" the gun (press a reload button) after a given number of shots. A target may be provided with an adjustable optical system which affects the reception and/or detection of light projected from a light gun and thereby change the difficulty level of the game.” (1)

2. Electronic game with infrared emitter and sensor (Patent No. 5,904,621)

May 18, 1999

Abstract: “A hand-held electronic toy gun and target apparatus facilitating a game of tag using infrared light communications between a plurality of players. An electronic controller is coupled to a transmitter for sending a series of encoded infrared light signals and a receiver for detecting infrared light signals. A gun body enclosing the controller, transmitter and receiver combination includes a handle with at least one hand operable trigger and a housing atop the handle conforming to the player's wrist and forearm. The housing has a top portion for mounting a non-planar surface of a target window for exposing the target window upwardly and outwardly over a wide range of side angles. The housing further includes a front end portion forward of the handle for positioning an infrared light lens for focusing the series of encoded infrared light signals from the transmitter outwardly from the housing.” (2)

3. Computer programmable interactive toy for a shooting game (Patent No.

6,261,180)

July 17, 2001

Abstract: “The invention disclosed herein relates to a portable, programmable, interactive toy for a shooting game played by radiating and appropriately detecting infrared light (or other radiated energy). A player set includes an IR light projector (gun), an IR light detector (target) and a detachable, programmable data (or program) module which controls operation of the toy in accordance with data programmed therein. The data module may be detached, and the toy will operate in a default mode which is downwardly compatible with other toys that do not include the programmable data module. The toy also includes a base unit which programs the data modules to provide each player with a unique firing code. The data modules may also include circuitry which recognizes the different codes. The data modules may accumulate game and player information such as the number of shots fired by the associated gun, the number of hits registered by the associated target, and the source (player identification) of each hit registered. The base unit is a computer which programs the data module, uploads and downloads information, and processes information uploaded from the data module and provides the results of processing thereon, including computation results. The detachable data module provides for modularity by which game functions and features implemented by modules may be added to and removed from a particular toy.” (3)

Analysis of Patent Liability:

1. Interactive light-operated toy shooting game

It was necessary to determine if Group 9’s design infringed on this particular patent. The gun described in the patent emits a coded light signal which is received and decoded with light sensors. Also according to the patent, the sensors are to be mounted on self-propelled targets, which also record the number of hits and end the game when appropriate. Separate codes are also available for varying tasks, such as shooting and resetting (1). Although much of the functionality is similar to that of Group 9, the IR based laser tag system proposed by Group 9 does not perform the same functions in exactly the same way. Therefore, the design proposed by Group 9 would not be guilty of literal infringement. In addition, the patent provides no actual circuit or specific design which can be used to implement the idea. Whereas the aforementioned patent states “It is another object of the invention to provide a self-propelled target whose motion is practically unpredictable during a game,” the IR sensors will be placed on a vest to be worn by the user, not on an autonomous machine (1). Each gun will also send unique binary data in its IR beam so other users can determine who shot them. However, returning to a previous argument, no actual design was actually specified in the patent, so although Group 9’s design performs substantially the same function, it can be concluded that the function is performed in a substantially different way. As a result, Group 9’s design does not infringe on this patent under the doctrine of equivalents.

2. Electronic game with infrared emitter and sensor

This patent is for the design of a laser tag system which specifically includes an IR emitter and IR sensor. The patent includes a description of the proposed gun, complete with “a handle with at least one hand operable trigger (2).” The design of this gun is more of a pistol, while the IR gun in Group 9’s design has a rifle design. The emitter will be at the front end of the gun, and there will be a stock in the back of the gun complete with a shoulder rest. The stock, in addition to providing comfort, will also be used to house the power supply (4 D-cell batteries).

This patent calls for specific coding in each transmitted IR beam so that the beams may be distinguished from random noise and ambient light (2). In order to transmit data during shots, Group 9’s IR based laser tag system will use a microcontroller to modulate IR light from an IR emitting diode at a frequency of 38 kHz. Digital information will be coded onto this carrier frequency through On-Off Keying (OOK). Each IR receiver will be an IR photodiode which has a 38 kHz band pass filter and a demodulating circuit, which relays the original binary data to the microcontroller to be registered as a hit. The code will allow the user being shot to determine who shot said user by sending signals unique to each gun. The code will also prevent the interference of random noise and ambient light. This provides the same functionality as the patented idea.

Without being specific about the type of coding present on the IR beam, the patent also calls for IR photodiodes to be used as IR receivers and IR emitting diodes as transmitters. However, the patent calls for the photodiodes to be biased with an inductive current source, providing “substantially higher alternating current than direct current circuit impedance (2).” Unlike this patent, Group 9’s design biases each photodiode with a DC power source. Although there is a difference in packaging design and diode biasing, Group 9’s IR based laser tag system still performs similar functions to the patented idea in a similar manner. Therefore, Group 9’s design does infringe upon this patent under the doctrine of equivalents.

3. Computer programmable interactive toy for a shooting game

Group 9’s IR based laser tag system includes many of the features which are described in this patent. As previously described the IR based laser tag system has unique codes for each gun to allow other users to distinguish received shots. Group 9’s design also features an LCD that displays player vitals such as health points and ammunition. This patent also includes these features, but they are managed by a base station and a removable data module. The data modules maintain the player vitals, and each module can be reprogrammed by the base station. Reprogramming can change the code of the IR signal as well as reset the player vitals (such as at the beginning of a match) (3). Although Group 9’s design does maintain player vitals as well as contain gun-unique IR codes, no removable data modules or base stations are used. Rather, a microcontroller housed inside the gun manages all aspects of the design, including the vitals management as well as the IR modulation. The microcontroller is not reusable nor is it reprogrammable by the user. Base stations are also not used in Group 9’s design. Due to the large differences in the actual design, the functions performed by Group 9’s design, although similar to those in the patent, are accomplished by an entirely different means. Thus, patent infringement, both literal and by the doctrine of equivalents, has been avoided.

Steps to Avoiding Patent Infringement:

1. Interactive light-operated toy shooting game

Due to the differences in functionality and design discussed in the previous section, patent infringement has been avoided.

2. Electronic game with infrared emitter and sensor

The packaging design described in the patent is different from that of Group 9, but the IR emitter and receiver concept is similar to that of Group 9. Different diode biasing methods are used, but these do not constitute a “substantially different” mechanism. Therefore, in order to avoid patent infringement, it will be necessary for Group 9 to pay royalty fees to the owners of Patent No. 6,261,180.

3. Computer programmable interactive toy for a shooting game

Due to the differences in functionality and design discussed in the previous section, patent infringement has been avoided.

References:

1. Interactive light-operated toy shooting game (Patent No. 5,741,185)

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,741,185.WKU.&OS=PN/5,741,185&RS=PN/5,741,185

2. Electronic game with infrared emitter and sensor (Patent No. 5,904,621)

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,904,621.WKU.&OS=PN/5,904,621&RS=PN/5,904,621

3. Computer programmable interactive toy for a shooting game (Patent No. 6,261,180)

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,261,180.WKU.&OS=PN/6,261,180&RS=PN/6,261,180

Searches performed on:

http://patents.cos.com

http://www.uspto.gov