Quote:
Originally Posted by Slick Fork
I think there's some misunderstanding as to how patents work. You can patent a specific mechanism or manufacturing process, but I don't think you can patent something as general as "light bulbs on a controller". If you had a specific LED board/controller design you could patent that but they certianly don't have the patents on LED light bulbs, and they don't have the patent on controllers so the only way they would have anything patented is if it was a specific design.
Patents aren't an evil thing and they don't discourage innovation, they are a way for people to protect their hard work. PFO patented Solaris (both the name, and the product), Aquarium Illusions Patents their LED light system and the interface with profilux.
The way LED lighting will get more affordable is when
1: The product is ready
2: Mainstream reef keepers accept that the product is ready and are willing to buy it en masse
3: More than a handful of companies produce it.
I'm really not optimistic that we'll see it anytime soon... lots of people will still argue the efficiency of T5's Vs. Power Compacts. I think that T5 lighting will be advanced in other fields such as industrial lighting LONG before we ever see it go mainstream in our aquariums.
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You are prity much right except LED's them selves are patenented that is why there is a difference in the light given off by different manufactures. You can do a exsparament with incondesent light bulbs each manufacturer has a different way of producing the same amount of luminas you can take a can and punch holes in it and put it over a bulb the light that shows up on the celing through the holes is from the tungstine carbide filament each manufacturers filiment should give off a different patern. I saw this a exibit some where I believe it was in Edmonton science world or some thing like that now it's called some thing else. The holes had to be the right size to let enough light through but not to much this is how you get to see the patern from the filaments.
Solaris has trade marked thier name and patenented their product.
Bill