Kent Displays and Kent State University Again Prevail in Global Patent Dispute
After a protracted international legal battle, one of the basic liquid crystal patents held by Kent State University and licensed by Kent Displays has withstood a legal challenge by several parties across Europe and the Pacific Rim.
The European Patent Office where the patent challenge was heard took place in Munich, Germany. The court found in favor of Kent Displays and Kent State University in late July. That action upholds the patent, as the intellectual property of the two entities in Kent. The patent is key to Kent Displays' Reflex(TM) Technology, which enables displays that don't require any power to maintain an image, have paper-like viewing angles and incomparable viewing quality in bright sunlight.
Dr. Albert Green, CEO of Kent Displays says, "It is gratifying to know that we were able to convey the integrity of the patent as written, in front of the European Tribunal."
The patent, invented by Drs. John West and Deng-Ke Yang of Kent State University, previously had been challenged in U.S. courts. The challenge to the United State patent entangled Kent Displays and Kent State in legal proceedings in U.S. District Court in Texas from 1996 until the patent was upheld in 2001. This ruling now confirms the validity of the corresponding European patent.
Dr. John West, currently the vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at Kent State, says the recent win proves that Kent State's Liquid Crystal Institute leads the world in its discipline. "With much credit to our partner Kent Displays, it is obvious that our collaborative work sets the standard in the liquid crystal field," West says.
Kent Displays has an active roster of licensees around the world that are commercializing the Reflex(TM) Display(TM) technology in a variety of end uses. Customers and licensees of Kent Displays' Reflex(TM) displays can be assured that Kent Displays will continue to defend its intellectual property vigorously. Kent State has exclusively licensed Reflex(TM) technology to Kent Displays for all display uses.
Kent Displays was founded in 1993 by Dr. J. William Doane, director emeritus of the Liquid Crystal Institute (LCI), and William Manning of Manning Ventures of Rochester, NY. Using a strong foundation upheld by in-depth research and development, Kent Displays is a leader in developing Reflex™ displays, its cholesteric liquid crystal displays that has been successfully licensed to corporations worldwide.
Headquartered in Kent, Ohio, Kent Displays is home to Reflex(TM) displays. Using a strong foundation upheld by in-depth research and development, Kent Displays is a leader in developing Reflex(TM) displays that have been successfully licensed to corporations worldwide. Engineers at Kent Displays create applications for portable devices that are thin, flexible, rugged, demand long battery life, have wide viewing angles, and paper-like viewing in all ambient lighting conditions including bright sunlight.
Reflex™ displays don't require any power to maintain an image, have wide viewing angles, and incomparable viewing quality in bright sunlight. These displays are be produced to be rugged, thin and flexible, and have many advantages.
Kent Displays has developed products that wrap around wrists, change colors according to taste, and next-generation writing tablets that offer both function and fun. This ability to embed liquid crystals in flexible plastics is expected to give rise to a flood of new products and applications, and will lead to the creation of numerous jobs as the technology continues to advance. Kent Displays is on a roll with new LCD process.
What are the possibilities?
Television station WKYC in Cleveland/Akron Ohio reported recently on the bright future for Kent Displays, which develops breakthough LCD technology invented at Kent State University.
The company has developed a paper thin, electronic skin for cell phones and mobile devices that allow consumers to change colors with the touch of a finger. The "eGo" skin uses no power to maintain any color already rendered on the surface.
Albert Green, Ph.D, CEO of Kent Displays, held a cell phone with the new eGo skin. "This unit can be made to match a woman's outfit. She can pick that color because that's what she wanted to wear that day.
"We let the user decide how to personalize the unit, not the manufacturer. And we can do this with laptops and computers, MP3 players, video game controllers, stereos, toys, clocks, furniture and even jewelry."
Another hot application is the eTablet, electronic writing tablet that allows the user to write on a screen and erase everything with the bush of a button. The LCD coating called "Reflex" makes it possible for the display to be viewable at wide angles and in bright sunlight, unlike conventional LCDs.
Employee Holly Burton walked out of the clean room and pulled off her mask that was hiding a big smile. "This company is really going somewhere," said Burton. "I'm a mother of three children. You never hear of LCD tech companies making anything in the United States and I am so glad to be working close to home and helping my family grow."
Kent Displays now has a roll-to-roll machine that is capable of producing millions of plastic displays per year. The new technology allows the company to dramatically reduce the cost of manufacture and compete with overseas companies.
"I couldn't be prouder of what we've accomplished here in Kent," said co-founder J. William Doane, Ph.D. while standing outside one of the clean rooms.
The display technology of Kent Displays has its origin at the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University. In 1965 Doane came to Kent with his family to join the Physics faculty and helped form the Liquid Crystal Institute.
"Do you realize that until now, almost all of our new technology developed in Kent was leaving Ohio," said Doane. "Now we can make things right here at home."
Production on the manufacturing line at Kent Displays is expected to begin in January, 2009.
Kent Displays is located close to the LCI, the world's largest research facility to link basic liquid crystal research to flat panel displays, and is considered to be the main street in Ohio's "Crystal Corridor." Kent Displays currently has manufacturer's representatives in 16 countries.
Kent State one of the public Ohio universities for undergraduate and graduate students is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation among the nations top 77 public research universities, and among the 76 top colleges and top universities in community engagement.
And it wouldn't be Ohio if there weren't a football angle to this story.
But it's the Buckeyes, 2008 BigTen Champions, who see a bright future for high school football all star Adam Bellamy, whose team, the Aurora Greenmen, just won the Ohio High School State Championship.
Adam Bellamy is wide enough to stand in front of a noon sun and make it seem like midnight. He's big enough to lift more than 500 pounds. He's strong enough to haul teammate Steven Yung around a football field with one arm.
You can do that when you're 6-4, 280 pounds and headed to Ohio State to play football on the offensive line for head coach Jim Tressel.
Adam is the grandson of Bill Manning, a co-founder of Kent Displays and IP.com.
One on this year's list caught our attention. Conor Madigan, PhD, Cofounder and CEO of Kateeva a company that, according to a recent article in Technology Review, has devised "a method for depositing the light-emitting organic materials with inkjet printers and a micro-dryer called a T Jet (for thermal jet) along with proprietary inks that effectively will let manufacturers employ Gen 8.5 and larger substrates – which measure more than 6 feet a side – to produce OLEDs."
Schools are making the Boogie Board tablet a must have learning aid used in place of note pads, loose leaf paper and chalk, magnetic and dry erase boards for a wide variety of student activities such as handwriting/arithmetic practice, solving equations, and drawing pictures. The Boogie Board tablet’s ease of use has also made it a favorite of individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities, including as a basic means of communication for those with limited speech and hearing. A pilot program allows schools to purchase up to 30 units at a significant discount. Discounts for larger education and institution-related purchases are also available.
