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Milwaukee owns Li in cordless tools?

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thom

· Thom
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Milwaukee tools, in a page out of Apple's play book, patented the use of Lithium Ion batteries in cordless tools and is now suing other tool manufacturers for royalties.


http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/manu...manufacturers/milwaukee-claims-exclusive-right-to-make-lithium-ion-tools_o.aspx

Of course Apple won claiming ownership of certain existing ideas by patenting their use in mobile phones. It seems Milwaukee is trying the same thing. Surprised they didn't patent the design feature "round" for use in saw blades for cordless tools.

Our patent system is horribly broken.
 
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#2 ·
Lithium is an atom. You can't patent what nature has created naturally, or so I thought. Maybe they just want to patent the "Li" term. But that was conceived a long time ago when they made the periodic tables.

What is it exactly they are trying to patent?
 
#3 ·
Good luck with this. Putting batteries in a package is what they are claiming their patent covers. Well, putting Li-Ion batteries in a pack. How absurd. They've been stacking batteries since they were invented.

The operative text in the section above is “adopted Milwaukee Tool’s inventions”. If any of these cases go to trial it will be up to a jury to decide if putting Li-Ion cells in a battery pack is an “invention” covered by patent law. It will be interesting to see what happens. A win by Milwaukee could mean some companies would be barred from producing or selling Li-Ion tools if they were unable to come to a financial agreement with Milwaukee.
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And I'll bet that Sony might have something to say about this....



In 1991, Sony and Asahi Kasei released the first commercial lithium-ion battery.
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#4 ·
This should be thrown out the window, f---ing stupid. You shouldn't be able to get a patent on IP. Patents should be on products only, not ideas.

Making something lighter, faster, stronger, but not new isn't inventing. I consider it redesign/reengirneering, no patent should be issued for something like that.
 
#5 ·
I took your invention and put two of them together, now it's my invention.:rolleyes:
 
#6 ·
Leo G said:
I took your invention and put two of them together, now it's my invention.:rolleyes:
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Reminds me...I gotta go file a patent for piano cabinets:laughing:

But seriously, this is ridiculous.
I think it's just an attempt to reach an "amicable negotiation" with the companies named in the suit.
This "agreement" may already be in place with the other 'Big 3', and that's why they are not named.
 
#9 ·
thom said:
Our patent system is horribly broken.
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I haven't (and won't) wade through the patents in the area to see what, if anything, they actually carved out.

IMO, ythe biggest problem with a lot of companies is they think they're a tool company, for instance, and give IP a back seat.

We'll see how the litigation goes, but there are overseas companies that were shipping tools with Li battery packs around the time the first patent was applied for.
 
#10 ·
This won't go anywhere. They just trolling like apple do. The problem is Apple have enough money to do it. Milwaukee not so much.

How on earth you even get a patent on something like that I will never know. Like some have said li-ion cells have been bulked together like that in everything from watches to submarines. How do they think they own the patent to put them into tool packs I never know. T
 
#14 ·
I think it was a few months between the LXT line and when Milwaukee bought them out. But Milwaukee were first to use li-ion cells in tool battery packs. I would imagine both were in development at the same time but Milwaukee released them earlier. But both were 2005 as I bought mine in 2006 a few months after release shipped from the US to the UK.

If they even make 1cent from this it truly shows how flawed the patent system is. I'm gonna go patent li-po cells in tools packs that draw over 6amps then wait for the cash to roll in. I don't invent anything but where's my money bitches
 
#15 ·
BCConstruction said:
This won't go anywhere. They just trolling like apple do. The problem is Apple have enough money to do it. Milwaukee not so much. How on earth you even get a patent on something like that I will never know. Like some have said li-ion cells have been bulked together like that in everything from watches to submarines. How do they think they own the patent to put them into tool packs I never know. T
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Unfortunately, this is exactly how the patent system works. There really are very few patents filed that are not just an arrangement of other existing components. Some are patented, in which case the patent filer would be responsible for licensing and paying royalties on those components.

Still, I think this lawsuit is a stretch. I guess it depends on how Milwaukee defined "tools" in their patent application. I would think that maybe NASA used Li-Ion up in space long before Milwaukee even knew what Li-Ion was. Also curious why it took a decade for them to file suit. Doesn't make much
 
#16 ·
I've seen something similar to this happen before in the paintball industry.
The filer of the suit, "Smart Parts LLC" went after pretty much every company utilizing components in their markers and other hardware that they said violated their patent claims.
At first they won against the smaller companies; even going as far as driving some out of business. But when they came up against some of the larger companies the patent dispute became more clarified and a lot of the patent claims, under scrutiny, were found to be too ambiguous or even false. As a result, SP eventually filed a Ch.11, followed shortly after by Ch.7, and liquidated into history.

Essentially, SP had decided that all electro pneumatic markers were based on their original design, but they were only partial owners of the filed patent. The original designer was paid for his design by having half, or more than half, of the patent ownership. When other companies found this out, they were able to acquire this intellectual property and use it as leverage against SP.
To the best of my knowledge this design, or the general idea behind the design, is now an undisputed industry standard. But on that I may be wrong as I haven't been following the industry for the last 6 or 7 years.
 
#17 ·
Patent trolling is an industry in itself. Companies buy patents that the owners can't afford to protect, and sue everybody in sight. Doesn't matter that they have no intention of ever producing anything with the patent. Their sole purpose is to win compensation through lawsuits. It's a disgusting industry! Not saying Milwaukee is doing this, as they clearly use their patent.
 
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