In previous posts (here, here, and here), I discussed a major offshoot of the GE-Mitsubishi wind patent war in which GE and a former employee, Thomas Wilkins, tussled over ownership of two of the patents involved in the larger litigation.

The remaining patent-at-issue in this ownership (more…)

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), what Pike Research defines as a “remote microgrid” is not a microgrid. The DOE defines a microgrid as a distribution system connected to a larger utility grid, with its defining characteristic being the ability to disconnect (seamlessly) and then operate in islanding mode. (more…)

A couple of weeks ago, I came back to my office from a seminar in Seoul. When I stood in front of the elevator door, the light in the hall went out, along with the elevator sign lamp. The elevator indicators quickly recovered in few seconds. I thought that the lobby lights would also shortly be turned on, but the (more…)

In the past, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has played a remarkably consistent role in commercializing new technologies that provide tremendous social benefits within the larger civilian realm. The Internet, created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1969, is perhaps the best-known DOD (more…)

The Intel Developer Forum that kicked off yesterday in San Francisco and folds tomorrow is a major event for developers and IT companies to find out about the latest Intel innovations.

Keynote presentations are the hottest tickets at IDF, especially the one made by President and CEO Paul (more…)

LED patent litigation remains hot, with two new lawsuits filed last month. In the first, North Carolina LED maker Cree sued SemiLEDs Optoelectronics (SemiLEDs), alleging that SemiLEDs’ MvpLED product line infringes six patents.

The complaint (Cree-Semileds-Complaint), filed in (more…)

A Seattle-based company says that it has developed an inexpensive do-it-yourself solar power technology that will enable homeowners to install solar panels on their roofs and then connect them to their power supply by simply plugging a cord into a regular electrical outlet. The company, Clarian Power, is touting its Sunfish system — with prices beginning at $799 — as a (more…)