Cognex seem determined to prevail

If someone copies your idea you will likely be pretty upset about it, and more so if you’d gone to the time and expense of obtaining a patent. Now a patent doesn’t actually give you a monopoly, but it does entitle you to sue anyone who uses your intellectual property. The downside is that patent cases can be very expensive to prosecute, and tend to move slowly. If your pockets are deep enough you’ll be able to afford the lawyer’s fees, but while your case grinds through the courts your competitor can grab some of your market by selling the infringing product.

If you’re doing business in the US, this is where it can pay to lodge a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC.) The ITC has the power to block the importation of goods that are alleged to infringe intellectual property laws, and will move faster than the court system. This means that if you believe a competitor is importing infringing products, you can have the ITC block their shipments while waiting for the legal system to work. (I hope I haven’t made that overly complicated.)

Back in 2008 Cognex filed suit against MVTec alleging infringement of certain patents. (From memory, I think they are related to pattern matching – Cognex are very possessive about their PatMax technology.) But if you read the machine vision magazines you’ll know that Halcon (from MVTec,) is still on sale in the US.

Cognex seem to have a problem with this, because on May 28th of 2009 they filed a complaint with the ITC. Well bureaucratic wheels turn slowly, but on July 15th the ITC announced that they will be investigating the complaint. There are fourteen companies listed as “respondents,” so if you’re selling Halcon, or a machine/system that incorporates it, you might want to get some legal advice on the matter.

Don’t ask me though. I’m not a lawyer and I can’t comment on the merits of the case. Consider me an impartial observer.