Optics

With expansive vision and striking clarity, our Optics Group has long been a leader in providing superior IP law services to the optics industry. For more than three decades we have applied our vast technical and legal expertise to help our clients protect and license their innovations in virtually every aspect of optics, including fiber optic lasers, sensors, and amplifiers, MEMS displays, lasers for phototherapy and machining, LED lighting, consumer eyewear, optical waveguides and switching, solar technology, holography, complex lens systems, spectroscopy, ophthalmic diagnostics instruments, and intraocular devices.

Our team of attorneys and scientists is perhaps unmatched for the depth of its optical expertise. This gives the members of our Optics Group the uncommon ability to quickly appreciate the nuances of our clients’ inventions and procure quality patents with richly detailed embodiments and strategically important claims for even the most exotic and sophisticated optical technologies. In addition, our Optics Group, with their extensive knowledge of the field, can assist in protecting clients from potential infringement by providing creative solutions to address third party patents, thereby helping our clients swiftly establish, introduce, and profit from new technologies. Our understanding of underlying technologies saves our clients invaluable time and money, allowing them to focus on revenue generating activities while we confidently manage all phases of patent prosecution and enforcement.

Our attorneys have experience in all areas of Optics, including:

Displays

Fiber Optics

Image Processing

Lasers

Lens Systems

Medical Lasers & Phototherapy Treatment

Nanostructures

Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment

Optical Coatings

Optical Instrumentation

Optical Switching

Photolithography Systems

Sensors

Spectroscopy

Endoscopes

Holography & Diffractive Optical Elements

Laser Micromachining

LEDs

Lighting

MEMS

Ophthalmic Devices

Optical Amplifiers

Optical Devices

Optical Materials

Optical Waveguides & Integrated Optical Devices

Polarization Control

Solar Energy

Representative Engagements

AcuFocus

Caltech

CVI Melles Griot

Doheny Eye Institute

GSI Group (laser processing and semiconductor materials)

IMRA America

Journée Lighting Inc.

LensGen

Loma Linda University (laser drilling of concrete)

Oakley

PhotoThera (medical applications of laser light)

QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies, Inc.

Samsung SDI

Stanford University

Toshiba

Visiogen

Successes

Journée Lighting Inc.

Our client Journée Lighting Inc. designs and manufactures state-of-the-art LED lighting fixtures. Journée Lighting invented a new light bulb that makes LED lights easier to use. The new light bulb, if never turned off, would last for 5.7 years at a fraction of the cost of a standard light bulb. GE Lumination purchased the next-generation LED module technology from Journée Lighting. A team of Knobbe Martens attorneys played an instrumental role in obtaining patent protection for the invention and providing agreement services leading to highly successful negotiations.

Stanford University

Stanford licenses the patents we procure to a leading U.S. defense contractor, which provides Stanford with millions of dollars in licensing revenue. Our successful defense of key fiber optic amplifier patents in multiple reexamination proceedings at the USPTO confirmed their validity and cleared the way for Stanford to continue to receive licensing revenue.

Oakley, Inc. v. Sunglass Hut, Int’l

Successfully represented plaintiff, owner of patent for lens coatings, in obtaining preliminary injunction. Decision affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Unforced Error: An IPR Challenger Cannot Rely on an Error That a Posita Would Have Corrected
Claims Survive IPR Challenge Under Narrow Construction Because It Was The Broadest Reasonable Interpretation
Express License of Patent Includes Implied License of Continuations