9 Feb
2006
9 Feb
'06
9:49 a.m.
On Wed, 8 Feb 2006, Doug Salot wrote:
A lawyer asked me if I had any devices made before
1997 that used RGB
LEDs. I know that RGB LEDs have been around since at least 1991, but
I
don't have anything to offer them. If you have a
device that uses a
mux
and PWM with the LEDs, that would apparently please
them very much.
I'm sure there will be a bounty involved, but I haven't been given
specifics.
Just as a backgrounder, there's a company called Color Kinetics that
owns the
patent for mixing R, G, and B light from LED's. I was briefly targeted
by the
company in the 90's for suggesting on Usenet that the same could be done
without
paying them royalties. I know that most legal action is heavy-handed,
but these
guys are big hitters and will come down hard on anyone who suggests that
mixing these colors can be done without paying them royalties.
Tim.