Lawsuit on "Plus" designation dismissed

Chessman · January 21, 2013 4:48AM

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"Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) has successfully defended itself in a lawsuit filed by patent attorney Duane C. Blake. In Duane C. Blake v. Professional Coin Grading Service, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America, and Collectors Universe, Inc., Blake claimed to have invented a system for grading eye appeal and alleged that NGC misappropriated his marketing plan. On Friday, January 11, 2013 a 12 person federal jury unanimously decided in favor of NGC."

TPRC · January 21, 2013 5:26AM

Well wait till my lawsuit comes. I invented the minus (-) sign.
Can't fix stupid.
Now I will read the article.

Wow! It made it to a jury. I am surprised.

messydesk · January 21, 2013 5:30AM

I invented the horizontal direction, without which your minus sign would not be possible.

coinsarefun · January 21, 2013 5:33AM

<< I invented the horizontal direction, without which your minus sign would not be possible. >>

LanceNewmanOCC · January 21, 2013 5:57AM

.
forgot all about this. thanks for the reminder
.

Unknown · January 21, 2013 6:01AM

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s4ny · January 21, 2013 6:08AM

I'm the reason you can no longer smoke while pumping gas.

Lakesammman · January 21, 2013 6:35AM

I hear they are going to sue Paramount next.

TPRC · January 21, 2013 6:40AM

There goes my invention of the division sign as well.

lkeigwin · January 21, 2013 7:14AM

That was a pretty stupid suit. Others like it:

In the early 1980's Zilog, maker of integrated chips (including the famous Z80 that was the CPU of many early microcomputers) had a product line with names that began with Z. They tried to get trademark ownership for all product names that begin with Z.

In 1963 Porsche announced its new 6-cylinder model, the 901. Saab objected, arguing they owned all three digit model names with a zero in the middle. Porsche backed off and renamed it the 911.
Lance.

messydesk · January 21, 2013 7:22AM

Both of those likely have something to do with why Intel chose Pentium as the name for their "80586" processor.

EVillageProwler · January 21, 2013 7:24AM

Patent trolls exist in every industry. They are a blight. Legitimate claims of patent and trademark rights are fine.

Unknown · January 21, 2013 8:15AM

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LanLord · January 21, 2013 8:20AM

<< Both of those likely have something to do with why Intel chose Pentium as the name for their "80586" processor. >>

I believe that was actually in response to something AMD was doing, they were building a microprocessor very similar to Intel's line and using a similar numbering plan. Intel tried to sue stating that the 8086/88, 80286, 80386 and 80486 names were their property. The court determined that you can't patent a number, so they paid a lot of money to a firm to come up with a "trendy" name, it was Pentium.

Bayard1908 · January 21, 2013 8:22AM

<< Patent trolls exist in every industry. They are a blight. Legitimate claims of patent and trademark rights are fine. >>

I believe the term "patent troll" was invented to undermine legitimate claims.

BlindedByEgo · January 21, 2013 8:30AM

<< I invented the horizontal direction, without which your minus sign would not be possible. >>

Now that's just plain funny. Thanks.

I get a nickel for every time the * is used, so please continue using it.*

*Just kidding. Stop already.

renomedphys · January 21, 2013 8:33AM

Hey... I was actually just thinking about this today. I'll admit, Duane's chances weren't really all that good.

astrorat · January 21, 2013 9:20AM

<< I hear they are going to sue Paramount next.

>>

Nice Paramount holder. Those "Plus" holders are tough to find ... and I need one!

TwoSides2aCoin · January 21, 2013 9:31AM

It was my idea to post here. I hope nobody sues me thinking it was their idea, first

homerunhall · January 21, 2013 9:52AM

Part of the story for your enjoyment...One of the witnesses on behalf of NGC was...David Hall.

Blake also claimed that NGC had given marketing ideas they received from Blake about plus grading to PCGS. And that it was his idea to launch plus grading in conjunction with a major coin show. And it was his idea to use a very rare coin to illustrate plus grading.

Question: Mr. Hall, when did you first see plus grading in the coin market?
Answer: 1973

Question: Do you share marketing ideas with NGC?
Answer: (laughter) Absolutely not. I don't tell Mark anything and he doesn't ever say anything to me.

Question: How often do you launch a new product or initiative at a major coin show?
Answer: Twice a year for the last 20 years.

Question: And when do you use a major rarity you've graded as a tie-in to marketing?
Answer: Every time we've graded one for the last 25 years.

I heard that Blake was wiping away tears during his attorney's summation as the attorney talked about how Blake was an inventor whose ideas were stolen by NGC and PCGS.

I guess the jury didn't believe the act. And by the way, Blake is far from an innocent inventor, he's a patent attorney.

hrh

tradedollarnut · January 21, 2013 9:59AM

Technically, it was not dismissed. It ran to its conclusion.

WoodenJefferson · January 22, 2013 4:11AM

WOW...rebuttal is on going.

tradedollarnut · January 22, 2013 4:28AM

Poof

Type2 · January 22, 2013 4:32AM

<< I'm the reason you can no longer smoke while pumping gas. >>

I'm the reason for smoking after pumping. Did i say that right?

TwoSides2aCoin · January 22, 2013 4:45AM

I would prefer decimal points, but it's all conjecture and opinion in between the grades anyway. The only real debate is ACV.

TPRC · January 22, 2013 5:47AM

<< 

<< Civil Action, Oct 12, 2012 >>

Did anyone read all 63 pages of this? >>

OK...read it....quickly...but read it...having practiced litigation for 25 years, I agree that there are always 2 sides to the story. He does kinda claim that he invented the plus sign (for coin grading) and the court properly and soundly and almost backhandedly rebuffed him and those claims which appear to have been silly. My confidence in our legal system has been restored. Certain of his other claims survived the motion to dismiss (the standard to survive at the motion to dismiss stage is low). He proceeded to trial, had his day in court and lost the remainder of his claims. All parties appear to have been well represented judging from the names of the firms involved.

dbcoin · March 7, 2014 6:43AM

PCGS just initiated a second counter suit

Collectors Universe, Inc. v. Duane C. Blake
Defendant: Duane C. Blake
Plaintiff: Collectors Universe, Inc.

Case Number: 8:2014cv00333
Filed: March 4, 2014

Court: California Central District Court
Presiding Judge: Andrew J. Guilford
Referring Judge: Douglas F. McCormick

Nature of Suit: Patent

counter suit

earlier counter suit

MGLICKER · March 7, 2014 7:58AM

Stuff like this is why folks are loathe to serve on jury duty.

I understand the $12 a day for criminal cases, but when millionaires sue millionaires, why hose the working stiff jurors.

Bochiman · March 7, 2014 8:14AM

Nothing wrong when lawsuits are justified, however, I get sick seeing self-serving lawsuits that are more about someone getting money at someone else's expense for BS reasons.
Glad that he didn't win and I am all about countersuits for bogus lawsuits.

leothelyon · March 7, 2014 8:14AM

Unless there was a patent predating another, isn't the rest hearsay?

derryb · March 7, 2014 8:59AM

good ruling. Could you imagine having to recall all those computer keyboards?

I evented barbeque sauce. . . well at least my own special recipe.

291fifth · March 7, 2014 9:06AM

<< Stuff like this is why folks are loathe to serve on jury duty.

I understand the $12 a day for criminal cases, but when millionaires sue millionaires, why hose the working stiff jurors. >>

I remember thinking exactly the same thing back in 1994 when I was called for jury duty by the US District Court in Detroit. Even though they paid more than $12 and did cover your parking charge it still wasn't much.

The case involved a patent related lawsuit and was expected to last for three weeks. Thankfully, the jury was seated before my name was called. I was back at work by 10AM that morning and was never called again during the two weeks I was eligible.

19Lyds · March 7, 2014 9:31AM

" In Duane C. Blake v. Professional Coin Grading Service, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America, and Collectors Universe, Inc., Blake claimed to have invented a system for grading eye appeal............"

Hmm. I could be wrong but I think that the "+" grading attribute has absolutely nothing to do with "eye appeal".

SeattleSlammer · August 31, 2015 9:31AM

<< I invented the horizontal direction, without which your minus sign would not be possible. >>

I agree that this is really thinking out of the box.

TigersFan2 · August 31, 2015 9:33AM

I think I'll trademark "2016" so I can be paid royalties on all of next year's coinage.

mustangmanbob · August 31, 2015 12:39PM

I worked in electronics and semiconductor development for almost 30 years, degree being in nuclear physics. You would not BELEIVE the amount of paperwork, notebook integrity, note retention, etc. that goes into patent applications, patent defense, etc. I believe I spent WEEKS in depositions on stupid differences between patent A and Patent B, etc. Everything was documented and dated.

The person who had the office next to me, rarely showed up, since he was in his 80's at that time, was Jack Kilby. Among his awards were the Nobel Prize for the invention of the integrated circuit, and the original patents for the hand held calculator and the thermal printer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kilby

What I do have tucked away, are silicon wafers, the things that are used to create the "chips" that drive seemingly everything. The chips are created layer by layer on these, and there can be 100 to 10,000 identical chips on a single wafer. I have 3 wafers stored away that Jack autographed for me. Kind of like a Thomas Edison autographed light bulb or an autographed plane of the Wright brothers, and a picture of Jack and I in the wafer fab together.

The one I do miss putting in my own app, was for the little stupid arrow on the gas gauge, pointing you to which direction the gas cap is located on. Even at 1 cent per vehicle, that would have been a cash cow. Instead, I just wrote a letter to each of the big three, got a nice response back from 2 of them, thanking me for my input, but that they do not accept "outside product suggestions", yeah right.

Lawsuit on "Plus" designation dismissed

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Lawsuit on &quot;Plus&quot; designation dismissed

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The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!

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Lawsuit on "Plus" designation dismissed