Homework 8: Patent Liability Analysis Due: Thursday, March 24, at Classtime Team Code Name: G.R.O.V.E.R. Group No. 7 Team Member Completing This Homework: Stan Miller NOTE: This is the second in a series of four professional component homework assignments, each of which is to be completed by one team member. The completed homework will count for 10% of the team member s individual grade. It should be a minimum of five printed pages. Report Outline: Introduction (brief description of design project, with a focus on patent liability issues) Results of patent search (similar products/products that perform substantially the same function) Analysis of patent liability o Literal infringement o Infringement under doctrine of equivalents Action recommended to avoid infringement List of references (include links to manufacturers of products that are infringed) Evaluation: Component/Criterion Score Multiplier Points Introduction 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X 1 Results of Patent Search 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X 3 Analysis of Patent Liability 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X 3 Action Recommended 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X 1 List of References 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X 1 Technical Writing Style 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X 1 TOTAL - 1 -
Introduction The purpose of our project is to successfully design and construct a microcontroller based robot called GROVER, a Ground-Roaming Offensive Vehicular Engagement Robot. This robot travels on two rotating treads, similar to those of a tank, and includes a rotating turret that detects heat-emitting targets by the use of PIR (Passive Infrared) sensors. The robot is capable of obstacle avoidance using ultrasonic sensors and will travel in a straight obstacle free path until a target is detected. Upon target detection, GROVER shall stop and fire an automatic weapon in the direction of the detected heat. The user interface will include a count of the number of shots fired via an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and an infrared remote control for stopping the robot. GROVER is a model robot that could be further developed for some kind of military use at a larger scale, or even used in a paintball arena where it could serve as a rogue agent roaming the area shooting any heat-emitting targets providing a twist to the game. The purpose of this report is to document potential patent liabilities with respect to GROVER and discuss which actions would need to be taken, if any, in order to avoid patent infringement. Results of Patent Search Although there is no United States patents found that completely encompassed the GROVER project, there were several patents for components of the GROVER project that may be infringed upon. With the use of United States Patent and Trademark Office website [6] and a previous ECE 477 project [7], the patents in Table 1.0 were found that may cause possible infringement. U.S. Patent Abstract Number 6,414,457 An autonomous rolling robot is in the form of a hollow sphere containing at least two sets of rotors. Each set of rotors includes a rotor mounted on a shaft which is driven by a motor. All of the shafts are radially mounted within the hollow sphere so that an extension of the shafts would intersect at the geometric center of the sphere. The center of mass of the robot is also located at the geometric center of the sphere. [1] 6,532,404 System of guidance and positioning relative to a fixed station for an autonomous mobile robot utilizing at least a directional infra-red beam emitted - 2 -
by the fixed station, the mobile robot being provided with a directional system of detection of infra-red emission connected to a microcomputer incorporated in the said robot, the robot moving on a work surface in an essentially random manner, the microcomputer including an algorithm able to control the return to fixed station by displacement of the robot towards the direction of emission of said infra-red beam, characterized in that the infra-red beam is a narrow directional beam and in that the system of detection is located on a frame at the center of rotation of the robot, oriented in the direction of movement of the robot, precise positioning in the fixed station being carried out by rotation of the machine around a vertical axis according to an algorithm based on the detection of the narrow beam. [2] 6,339,735 There is disclosed a utility robot for operating in multiple modes, in particular, at least one autonomous mode and at least one manual mode. The robot is configured with a recognition system for recognizing a signal indicating the particular mode in which to operate, and adjusts its control system accordingly. Methods for operation of this utility, performing various tasks, such as lawn mowing, vacuuming, floor cleaning and snow removing are also disclosed. [3] 6,515,614 An autonomous moving apparatus moving to a destination while detecting and avoiding an obstacle includes a radar device for scanning a horizontal plane in its traveling direction to thereby detect a position of an obstacle and an obstacle sensor for detecting an obstacle in a space different from the scanning plane of the radar device. The apparatus moves to the destination under such control as to avoid the obstacle based on detection information from the radar device and the obstacle sensor from a detection output provided by a specificconfiguration detecting element for detecting a present specific configuration from scanning information by the radar device. By providing such a specificconfiguration detecting element that detects a specific configuration based on the scan information by the radar device that can accurately know about position information, it is possible to guess an obstacle having an upper structure, thus providing efficient avoidance. [4] - 3 -
6,539,284 A robot for performing substantially autonomous movement includes a processing device, a memory, and a mobility structure controlled by the processing device. The processor directs the robot to move with any predetermined safe area having a boundary and a reference point. Optionally, the robot also exhibits features of social interactivity by accepting an input from a human, selecting dynamic content from a data base wherein the dynamic content is responsive to the input, and presenting the human with a response corresponding to the dynamic content selection. [5] Table 1.0 United States Patents researched for project GROVER [6] Analysis of Patent Liability U.S. Patent 6,414,457 [1] This patent relates to an autonomous rolling robot with rotors mounted on a shaft which is driven by a motor. The GROVER project is also an autonomous robot with rotors driven by two motors. The two robots differ in that the patent describes the robot as a hollow sphere containing at least two sets of rotors and the GROVER project has multiple rotors driven by two motors connected by a tank base. Though the two differ in shape and construction, this could be an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents because both autonomous robots are creating the same function, but with a different architecture. U.S. Patent 6,532,404 [2] This patent relates to the guidance and positioning of an autonomous robot. The GROVER project uses both ultrasonic and passive infrared (PIR) sensors with a microprocessor for the guidance and positioning. From the above patent, an infrared beam and microcomputer are used in the guidance and positioning of the autonomous robot. Though it is difficult to extract the exact meaning of what the patent is trying to convey, it seems that both autonomous robots are using the same method for guidance and positioning and this would be literal infringement. - 4 -
U.S. Patent 6,339,735 [3] This patent relates to the use of multiple modes, automatic and manual. Through the use of an RF transmitter, the GROVER project has the ability to turn the autonomous robot on and off for safety purposes. Because the GROVER is used as a weapon, there needs to be a mode where the user can refill ammunition or just move the GROVER when necessary. Though the patent describes multiples modes, this can be contested because the GROVER does not necessarily have a manual mode, just an automatic and an off. With that said, this may be seen as an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents because of the multiple modes. U.S. Patent 6,515,614 [4] This patent is similar to GROVER in the aspect of autonomous moving apparatus moving to a destination while detecting and avoiding an obstacle. The GROVER uses ultrasonic sensors to avoid obstacles and compute distances as it roams around a designated area. The device described in the patent uses a radar device to avoid obstacles, but the patent does not discuss the details of how this works. This could possibly be seen as an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents because both devices are detecting and avoiding an obstacle through some method of sensors, but due to the lack of detail on the patent it is highly unlikely. U.S. Patent 6,539,284 [5] This patent relates to the use of a robot for performing substantially autonomous movement includes a processing device, a memory, and a mobility structure controlled by the processing device and social interactivity. The GROVER is an autonomous robot that uses sensors and a microprocessor to detect and fire upon heat-emitting sources, including humans. This could be seen as literal infringement because the GROVER is using practically the same components with social interactivity. However, the patent does describe the social interactivity as input from a human, and in the case of GROVER, the input would be the human s body heat. Although not entirely clear, there are substantial similarities between the two devices for infringement. - 5 -
Action Recommended to Avoid Infringement In the case where there are possible infringement liabilities, a few things could be done. First of all, before obtaining any licenses or paying any royalties, the GROVER project team would look to the assistance of a patent lawyer. If the patent lawyer found that the infringement liabilities were real, as stated above, the team would need to purchase any licenses or pay royalties for any component that is used on the GROVER. For instance, a license would probably need to be purchased for the use of PIRs and a microprocessor for the guidance and positioning of the autonomous robot [4]. The other alternative, if the team is not able to purchase a license or the owner is not willing to sell, would be to design GROVER in a way that accomplishes the same task but with out infringing on the particular patent. For instance, instead of having multiple modes, GROVER could possibly be in automatic mode without an alternate mode. Although this is not efficient, it is possible and it eliminates the need for that particular patent [3]. List of References [1] Autonomous Rolling Robot, [Online Document], Available HTTP: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm patent # 6,414,457 [2] Mobile Robots and their Control System, [Online Document], Available HTTP: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm patent # 6,532,404 [3] Method for Operating a Robot, [Online Document], Available HTTP: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm patent # 6,339,735 [4] Autonomous Moving Apparatus having Obstacle Avoidance Function, [Online Document], Available HTTP: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm patent # 6,515,614 [5] Socially Interactive Autonomous Robot, [Online Document], Available HTTP: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm patent # 6,539,284 [6] United States Patent and Trademark Office [Website], Available HTTP: http://www.uspto.gov [7] ECE 477 Group 1 Project Autonomous Robot [Online Document], Available HTTP: http://shay.ecn.purdue.edu/~dsml/ece477/webs/s03-grp01/index.html - 6 -