Bad news for solaris owners

Frenchie · #1 02-11-2009, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

So is your solaris not working anymore? Man that really sucks

I really do feel bad for you and everyone who is being screwed over by this. I almost bought one last year but ended up deciding to wait until more of the bugs were worked out. Now I am glad I did but at the same time, its sad to think this technology may never be used again. Its now up to one company if they ever want to reintroduce it to the market and they are NOT an aquarium company. Really too bad...

It still works. I just dont want to have to wait for a new one to ship once the lights inevitably burn out or there is some other problem. If the light cant be maitained its not much use to me, its just a ticking time bomb.

The Codfather · #2 02-11-2009, 08:38 PM

Just checked jl aquatics web site, solaris is not even on the site anymore.

mseepman · #3 02-11-2009, 08:41 PM

I certainly don't think that Marine LED's are a dead issue. Although I completely disagree with Orbitec's attempt to control the market, they themselves say that they will be introducing something with a main-stream aquarium supplier later this year.

I also don't know whether their patent is really much to worry about except for Solaris owners...it's very specific to LED's with controllable spectrums...unfortunately, this is the main feature in many of the Solaris products. Looking at the timing of patent applications and such suggests that PFO knew that they were treading a thin line. It's a shame to see them go down like this as they were a strong domestic supplier that you could count on for good products.

Whatigot · #4 02-11-2009, 08:52 PM

HA...
I was on JL's site this morning and they were still advertising their solaris sale...
Not saying anything subversive but kind of coincidental to this thread aint it?

Maybe they just found out about the lawsuit too....lol

digital-audiophile · #5 02-11-2009, 08:58 PM

Yeah, J&L totally removed the solaris from their site. It was just up on the mian page yesterday when I was window shopping.

No disrespect to J&L at all, I really like them. I just brought it up because I saw the sale for the first time a bit ago and thought that it would be cool to get a solaris. I've seen one running at Wai's and it is a really neat unit.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #6 02-11-2009, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mseepman

I certainly don't think that Marine LED's are a dead issue. Although I completely disagree with Orbitec's attempt to control the market, they themselves say that they will be introducing something with a main-stream aquarium supplier later this year.

I also don't know whether their patent is really much to worry about except for Solaris owners...it's very specific to LED's with controllable spectrums...unfortunately, this is the main feature in many of the Solaris products. Looking at the timing of patent applications and such suggests that PFO knew that they were treading a thin line. It's a shame to see them go down like this as they were a strong domestic supplier that you could count on for good products.

The patent is absurdly broad...basically any LED illumination system over a marine environment that will produce growth. Orbitec filed for the patent in 2004 and PFO should have known this...as you say they were really walking a thin line and if people want to blame anyone, it shoudl be PFO, NOT J&L or any other reputable shop.

Just thought I would mention though that the patent is not nearly as specific as you say...should not cover moonlights though

http://www.google.com/patents?id=mwW...um+LED+orbital

Rbacchiega · #7 02-11-2009, 10:10 PM

I've ordered from J&L many times, and have no problem with the company (although it may have seemed that way in my previous post)

I would like to hope that JL merely took them down to avoid any legal issues on their end, but *meh*.

It's a shame you might be stuck with a bum unit though Frenchie. LEDs look great, but for me at least, are more money than they are worth. I'll stick to MH or T5...

Whatigot · #8 02-11-2009, 10:20 PM

as I understand it, it's also largely to do with the way solaris is mounted to the tank...
meaning hanging fixtures might be exempt as well.
RC has a tonne of posts about this now, more all the time, even some patent lawyers piping in there.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #9 02-11-2009, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whatigot

as I understand it, it's also largely to do with the way solaris is mounted to the tank...
meaning hanging fixtures might be exempt as well.
RC has a tonne of posts about this now, more all the time, even some patent lawyers piping in there.

If you read the patent, you will find not much mentioned about mounting. More about illumination of marine aquariums with LED lighting. As I said above, its very broad.

mseepman · #10 02-11-2009, 10:48 PM

In looking at the patent further...and in reading some of the responses that Orbitec has provided people who inquire, the patent lawsuit against PFO is more aimed at at the similarities between the Solaris product and the patented product. Though their claim on LED's over a marine aquarium sounds broad, I believe they would lose a claim which was singularly based upon that broad statement. As exemplified by so many people pointing out that such a product instead be sold strictly for "freshwater" aquariums. In this case they are targeting the product itself which has a controller that adjusts the spectrum of the lighting (the main benefit of LED of course). Notice that similar lawsuits have not been filed against some of the other LED products out there.