Patlex to Get 4th Gould Laser Patent

Patlex Corp., adding to its string of legal victories on behalf of laser pioneer Gordon Gould, said a U. S. Patent Office appeals board has authorized the office to issue Gould the fourth key laser patent he has sought over the last 30 years.

The patent, expected to be formally issued to Gould early next year, covers the so-called Brewster Angle Window technology, which uses an optical system to help a laser operate more efficiently and without energy loss.

The patent would give Gould, 67, his fourth laser patent since developing his laser technology while a graduate student at Columbia University in the late 1950s. Gould already has a “use” patent that covers various uses of the laser technology, as well as a patent on the “optically pumped” laser, and a “gas-discharge” laser.

The last two patents refer to a laser’s power source. The optically pumped uses light, whereas the gas-discharge employs an electrical discharge in a gas. The two techniques account for most lasers used today.

The upshot of Gould’s patent victories is that they bolster the ability of Patlex and Gould to demand licensing fees from laser manufacturers and from corporations, research centers and others that use Gould’s laser technology. To date, Patlex has signed about 20 companies to royalty contracts, including IBM, GM and Motorola.

Patlex receives 64% of those royalties in exchange for having waged Gould’s patent fight for the past several years. Gould himself gets 20% and Refac Technology, another Patlex stockholder, gets the remaining 16%.