God, I hate the USPTO. Don't get me wrong, patents, properly administered and applied, are a wonderful thing. However, they keep granting patents for things that show that the patent examiner hasn't got a bloody clue about what prior art exists or what would be considered obvious to a person with "ordinary skill in the art." In this case, the patent that Orbitech was granted is for something that is obvious; you're just replacing MH or T5 lights in a fixture with LEDs, and the controllability is something that naturally stems from the nature of LEDs. *sigh*
...And, of course, you can't challenge it without ruinously expensive litigation, or merely prohibitively expensive reexamination requests (which may or may not be reviewed by someone who knows his head from his arse.)
However, even I doubt that the incompetence of the Patent Office will allow this 'new' patent to be approved.
It looks like someone actually did plonk down the cash for an ex parte reexamination of the main patent; with any luck it'll get to someone with a clue.
...In the meanwhile, I refuse to buy anything from any party that pays Orbitech licensing fees. Companies like Orbitech are leeches, producing nothing and draining the vitality of markets.
