CleanTechies
  • Home
  • Articles
    • Clean Transportation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Green Building
    • Renewable Energy
    • Recycling & Waste
    • Water & Conservation
  • Contact
    • Editorial
      • General Inquiries
      • Article Submission
    • Advertising
      • Advertising & Sponsorship
      • Guidelines
      • Media Kit
  • Are you a CleanTechie?

CleanTechies

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Clean Transportation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Green Building
    • Renewable Energy
    • Recycling & Waste
    • Water & Conservation
  • Contact
    • Editorial
      • General Inquiries
      • Article Submission
    • Advertising
      • Advertising & Sponsorship
      • Guidelines
      • Media Kit
  • Are you a CleanTechie?
Tag:

Mitsubishi

In GE Wind Patent Fight Federal Circuit Affirms Wilkins Inventorship Story is Incredible

In GE Wind Patent Fight Federal Circuit Affirms Wilkins Inventorship Story is Incredible

written by Eric Lane

In previous posts (here, here, here, and here), I discussed a significant ancillary battle in the GE-Mitsubishi wind patent war.  In this entertaining sideshow, GE and a former employee, Thomas Wilkins, have been fighting over ownership of two of the patents involved in the larger litigation.

The patent-at-issue in this case is U.S. Patent No. 6,921,985 (’985 Patent).  The ’985 Patent is directed to a wind turbine that includes a blade pitch control system and a turbine controller coupled with the blade pitch control system.  To increase the reliability of the turbine’s power supply, the turbine controller causes the blade pitch control system to vary pitch in response to transitions between different power sources.

After Wilkins brought a lawsuit to correct inventorship, Mitsubishi intervened in the suit.  The case aroused Mitsubishi’s interest because the ’985 Patent is one of several asserted by GE against Mitsubishi in at least two lawsuits.

After the district court decided that Wilkins was not a co-inventor of the invention claimed in the ’985 Patent, Mitsubishi and Wilkins appealed.

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court ruling.

To overcome the presumption that the named inventors on a patent are correct, an alleged co-inventor must prove his inventive contribution by clear and convincing evidence.  The putative inventor can’t rely on his testimony alone.  Rather, there must be evidence to corroborate his testimony.

The problem for Wilkins was that the district court found his testimony on inventorship not credible, and the proffered corroborating witness testimony fell short because the witnesses either relied on Wilkins or failed to provide ample basis for their opinions.

On appeal, Wilkins acknowledged his credibility problems but argued that the instances in which his credibility was impeached only extended to “immaterial and tangential points.”  The appeals court disagreed:

Based on the trial record, we find no clear error in the district court’s assessment that the substance of Wilkins’s testimony, which addressed central issues such as conception and contribution, was inconsistent and purposefully evasive.  We agree with the district court’s conclusion that Wilkins left his case with no credibility.

As it turned out, this wasn’t an issue of insufficient corroborating evidence of inventorship.  Rather, as the court explained, the document Wilkins sent to GE’s German engineers, which he argued demonstrated his conception of the invention, did not disclose any elements of the claimed invention:

Notwithstanding that the record is devoid of proof that the German engineers relied on anything discussed in that document as part of their conception . . . our review of the record verifies that the document does not disclose any of the subject matter claimed in the ’985 patent.

In fact, the document in question “does not even depict the key feature Wilkins claims to have invented, i.e., a UPS powering the wind turbine’s three controllers.”

Therefore, there was no credible evidence of Wilkins’s conception:  ”Wilkins provided no credible testimony for that document to corroborate” and “without credible testimony from Wilkins, there was nothing to corroborate.”

This chapter in the GE-Mitsubishi patent litigation appears to be closed.



May 27, 2014 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

GE Wins Wind Patent Ownership As Court Finds Testimony Too Impeachy

written by Walter Wang

In previous posts (here, here, and here), I discussed a major offshoot of the GE-Mitsubishi wind patent war in which GE and a former employee, Thomas Wilkins, tussled over ownership of two of the patents involved in the larger litigation.

The remaining patent-at-issue in this ownership

Continue Reading


December 19, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Driven: 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

written by Walter Wang

It’s not every day that you see an electric vehicle driving down the street. Certainly for me, I don’t see electric vehicles parked in the garage of my building. So, when given the opportunity to test drive the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, I jumped at it. I always wondered what it would be like to drive an electric vehicle on the streets and freeways of San Diego.

Continue Reading


December 10, 2012 3 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

GE Dodges Mitsubishi Wind Turbine Blade Pitch Angle Patent

written by Walter Wang

A previous post discussed Mitsubishi’s patent infringement action against GE in which the Japanese conglomerate fought back against multiple infringement suits (see, e.g., here and here) brought against it by GE.

Mitsubishi’s Complaint, filed in the Middle District of

Continue Reading


July 23, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Jury Finds Mitsubishi Owes GE $170 Million for Wind Patent Infringement

written by Walter Wang

In a previous post, I discussed a Texas federal court decision denying Mitsubishi’s motion for summary judgment in which it argued it did not infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,629,705 (’705 Patent) and that the ’705 Patent is invalid.

The ’705 Patent is entitled “Method and apparatus

Continue Reading


March 22, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

GE Patent Rides Through Mitsubishi Attacks

written by Walter Wang

A previous post discussed one of GE’s more recent wind patent infringement suits against Mitsubishi.

Filed in the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, the complaint (gecomplaint.pdf) alleges that Mitsubishi’s 2.4 megawatt wind turbine infringes U.S. Patent Nos. 6,879,055 (’055 Patent) and 7,629,705 (’705 Patent).

Continue Reading


February 27, 2012 1 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

If These Walls Could… Generate Power

written by Walter Wang

The ever-changing solar market continues to move ahead with enormous strides. While such innovations such as the new “plug ‘n’ play” solar panels are creating buzz, there are a number of other significant innovations that are helping homeowners fulfill their energy-saving goals.

Continue Reading


January 30, 2012 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Duke’s Order to Blow Away Cloud Hanging Over Mitsubishi’s 2.4 MW Turbine?

written by Walter Wang

I’ve written extensively about the patent infringement and antitrust litigation between wind power rivals GE and Mitsubishi (see, e.g., previous posts here and here).

While that legal battle spans multiple venues, encompasses several different patents, and includes

Continue Reading


November 4, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Top Ten Cleantech Highlights of Mitsubishi

written by Walter Wang

The Mitsubishi Group is a large Japanese conglomerate that contains a number of businesses sharing the Mitsubishi brand, legacy and trademark. Probably most well known are the Mitsubishi manufactured vehicles. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is a multinational automobile manufacturer with

Continue Reading


September 14, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Mitsubishi Develops Spray-on Solar Power Technology

written by Walter Wang

The Earthquake followed by a tsunami that devastated Japan back in March has spawned a veritable cleantech revolution, both on the research and governmental fronts.

Now Mitsubishi Chemical Corp has announced it has developed a spray-on solar power technology

Continue Reading


August 26, 2011 4 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Mitsubishi Launches Solar-Powered EV Quick Charge Station

written by Walter Wang

Mitsubishi joins the hunt for affordable, rapid charging stations with its own solar-powered prototype.

Ask any car owner about their biggest worry when it comes to electric vehicles, and they’re likely to say finding themselves in the middle of nowhere without an outlet.

Continue Reading


July 21, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Growing EV Industry Still Divided Over DC Charging

written by Walter Wang

The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) arena will soon get more crowded as automakers Mitsubishi and Toyota are in the final stages of preparing to compete head on with the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt in North America. While the new entrants are agreed that there is great enthusiasm for PEVs, their contrary

Continue Reading


July 15, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Mitsubishi Outlines Plans to Unleash Eight Green Vehicles by 2015

written by Justmeans

Despite having a long history in the automobile business, Mitsubishi Motors contributions to the green vehicle industry in recent years have so far not shown as much dedication as some other Japanese automobile manufacturers. While their compact electric vehicle, called the i-MiEV, has already hit the markets in Japan after the 2009 release, the company is not

Continue Reading


January 24, 2011 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

New Front Opens in Wind Patent War as Mitsubishi Stages Intervention

written by Eric Lane

What began as a separate action may become formally linked to the largest extant U.S. wind power patent war as Mitsubishi has requested to intervene in a lawsuit brought by GE against a former employee over rights to two wind patents.

Last spring GE sued Thomas Wilkins, an electrical engineer who had worked for

Continue Reading


January 21, 2011 1 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Newer Posts
Older Posts

CleanTechnica.TV

Listen to CleanTech Talk

CleanTech Talk

Free CleanTechnica Newsletters

CleanTechnica's main newsletter (daily)

CleanTechnica's EV newsletter

CleanTechnica's wind newsletter

CleanTechnica's solar newsletter

CleanTechnica's weekly newsletter

Support Our Work

CleanTechnica Clothing & Cups

Recent CleanTechie Bios

Henk Rogers

JB Straubel

Lynn Jurich

Matt Moroney

Kyle Field

Paul Francis

Chelsea Harder

Griff Jurgens

Scott Cooney

The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by, and do not necessarily represent the views of CleanTechnica, its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.


Back To Top