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DanS
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Kickball Capital of the World
Jan 1970
time: 00:27
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Shuji Nakamura invented the most important lighting method since Edison's light bulb, and also invents an accompanying laser with his technology.
What does he receive for his efforts? Only $6 million + interest.
This is truly amazing to me. Hey, if Japan wants to give up its Edison, then we'll take 'em! Quite a catch for UCSB. He's also advising Cree, his old Japanese company's competitor. Cree creates jobs in North Carolina, as I remember. 
quote:
Associated Press
Japanese Inventor Critizes Settlement
Wednesday January 12, 11:02 am ET
By Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
Japanese Inventor Who Sued Over Technology Rights Criticizes Settlement, Praises U.S.
TOKYO (AP) -- A Japanese inventor, who reluctantly settled a patent dispute over a lucrative lighting technology and accepted a fraction of the amount awarded by a lower court, criticized the nation's judicial system Wednesday as rigged to favor companies over workers.
The 840 million yen ($8 million) settlement reached by the Tokyo High Court Tuesday between Shuji Nakamura, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his former employer Nichia Corp. is the largest-ever awarded a scientist for a patent dispute with a company in Japan.
But it was far less than the 20 billion yen ($194 million) a lower court ordered Nichia to pay. The company appealed that settlement.
Nakamura, who has become a hero among some Japanese workers, urged talented researchers to leave Japan for the United States, where he says people are rewarded for performance and the courts attempt to find justice.
"Japan is treating people as though they're all robots," he said. "I'm so lucky I work in the United States. I can't imagine working in Japan again."
Last year's landmark Tokyo District Court ruling was over Nakamura's patents for the blue light-emitting diode, or LED, widely used in traffic signals, mobile phones, large screens and next-generation DVDs.
The patents have earned the company millions of dollars a year, but Nakamura was paid a token bonus of 20,000 yen ($195).
The lower court ruled that Nakamura's invention was worth three times what it ordered Nichia to pay. Nichia argued the patents were a team effort.
Nakamura said he would be left with little after paying taxes and legal fees, and said he plans to pay off his home mortgage.
He said he wanted to take his case to the Supreme Court, but his lawyers told him that the higher courts would likely reduce the cash award.
There are no jury trials in Japan and the higher courts tend to have more conservative judges.
"The judicial system in Japan is rotten," Nakamura said. "I am outraged. That's all I have to say."
Still, Nakamura's four-year case has helped raise consciousness in Japan about respect for inventors. Some companies have begun paying employees more for patents, and cash awards by courts for inventions are gradually rising. |
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Kontiki
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Canada
Aug 2001
time: 00:27
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I should think that if he was making a decent wage, he could afford a Z3 without patent royalties.
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Kontiki
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Canada
Aug 2001
time: 00:27
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Actually, alot of people can, it just might not be the smartest decision to make.
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All times are GMT. The time now is 05:27.
Apolyton Time is 00:27. |
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01-02-2005 06:37
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