Ultra Attempting to Enforce Modular Patent

Yes it seems they did, unless Enermax is already licensing it or is covered by another defendant.

Edit:

There are a number of companies not listed (SuperFlower, CoolerMaster, Hiper, etc) the reason is they either A) do not import retail product to the US, B) could not be served, C) are covered by another defendant, D) are paying the royalty, or E) have adhered to the cease and desist request previously filed.
 
Enermax is one of the few PSU comanies that is their own company and design/make their own and don't rebadge aren't they? I wouldn't think they would be covered by another defendant.

Sounds like Ultra may be in the right. Don't know enough about when the idea was introduced.

But they filed in 2004. It wasn't awarded until 2006. And I agree it was a great idea, I love using only the cables I need. A huge factor in my PSU purchasing decisions. Looking around the net, it looks like they offered licesning fee options to other manufacturers, so those manufacturers were aware of Ultra's patent and were offered a way to be legal. But instead opted to continue infringing. That's pretty shitty of them.

It kind of sucks, but certainly sounds like Ultra is due compensation. We'll see what the courts decide.
 
Menelmarar said:
Enermax is one of the few PSU comanies that is their own company and design/make their own and don't rebadge aren't they? I wouldn't think they would be covered by another defendant.
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Well they design their own units.
 
theystolemyname said:
Ultra is digging their own grave with this lawsuit.
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How do you figure? You think they will get counter-sued to death? I'm not sure that could actually happen...

The worst that will happen is they lose, and lose a chunk of change that they invested to try to enforce their patent.
 
theystolemyname said:
Ultra is digging their own grave with this lawsuit.
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Judging by the 6 Ultra PSU's I picked up FAR and the 4 Ultra cases I also picked up FAR -- if they didn't go down from all the FARness they won't go down now.

Plus, you're the only one that has a differing opinion. You a patent lawyer?
 
Take a look at the list of defendants. Which PSU has ultra brought to market that wasn't a rebadged unit made by channel well technology? I'm guessing pretty much just the 750w unit that has a recommendation of "if you buy this, say goodbye to your hardware" from the PSU folks here.
 
theystolemyname said:
Take a look at the list of defendants. Which PSU has ultra brought to market that wasn't a rebadged unit made by channel well technology? I'm guessing pretty much just the 750w unit that has a recommendation of "if you buy this, say goodbye to your hardware" from the PSU folks here.
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Ultra has never used CWT.
 
Who is Florian Hauser and why is he taking credit for Paul's thread? ;)
 
I'm pretty sure performance pc's was the first to sell modular psu's (they sold modded PC Power & Cooling PSU's) But I degress since they are a modding house not a psu company.

SO the idea isn't really theirs either, they are simply the first ones to take the risk and take modular psu's into the mainstream (and they succeeded)

Either way this seals it that I will no longer consider any of the high end ultra PSU's ever again. its SilverStone, Cosair, and Thermaltake for me now.
 
Chilly said:
I'm pretty sure performance pc's was the first to sell modular psu's (they sold modded PC Power & Cooling PSU's) But I degress since they are a modding house not a psu company.

SO the idea isn't really theirs either, they are simply the first ones to take the risk and take modular psu's into the mainstream (and they succeeded)

Either way this seals it that I will no longer consider any of the high end ultra PSU's ever again. its SilverStone, Cosair, and Thermaltake for me now.
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What Hank did was make extendable cables which is NOT part of the Ultra patent and really aren't modular in the same manner.
 
Well I know whose products I won't be buying in the future.

Definitely going to be putting one of those "patent infringing" Corsair modulars in my new build.
 
Right. The thing that people have to realize here is that Ultra didn't patent the "idea" of a modular power supply. They patented the way in which it is done, and that way is different than how Hank does modular power supplies. It just so happens that everyone else now does modular power supplies in the same manner Ultra did and this is why they infringe on the patent.
 
Chilly said:
Either way this seals it that I will no longer consider any of the high end ultra PSU's ever again. its SilverStone, Cosair, and Thermaltake for me now.
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I'd believe you were smoking cough syurp if you even considered Ultra over SS and Corsair in the high end market.


As it is, Corsair has the $50 budget PSU market locked up and the $100 high end PSU market. I know because I own a 620 and a 550.
 
This is just disgusting, these guys are creepy. Did you read the "patent"? Assuming it's the one linked in this thread, it's a joke. I'm not really clear on why they think adding "UV" to some of the components does anything for them, it adds no functionality. It's a total non sequitur. It's like coming up for a patent where you do a bunch of obvious stuff... and paint it PINK!

There is a ridiculous amount of prior art for this. They think they added a bunch of fluff to make it specific enough so that an idiot reading it may think they're actually patenting something new, but they're obviously just using prior art. I hope these scum get run into the ground, and I can only hope nobody with any sense buys any of their products.

Our patent system is just a disgrace.
 
Chilly said:
I'm pretty sure performance pc's was the first to sell modular psu's (they sold modded PC Power & Cooling PSU's) But I degress since they are a modding house not a psu company.

SO the idea isn't really theirs either, they are simply the first ones to take the risk and take modular psu's into the mainstream (and they succeeded)

Either way this seals it that I will no longer consider any of the high end ultra PSU's ever again. its SilverStone, Cosair, and Thermaltake for me now.
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Not sure why it would matter. Fact is that performance-pc's had modular power supplies available for sell well before the patent filing date. In addition, I'm sure there were modders out there who did it themselves well before performance-pc's.

Just because you're the first "mainstream PSU company" to do something doesn't mean you can patent it.
 
Thank god I just bought a shiny red PCP&C 750W NOT modular PSU :p
Oh and my friend actually bought that Ultra 750W PSU a day before I warned him about the article here on [H] and it couldn't run his SLI system.(8800GT) Just another strike against Ultra. Now he has the same PSU I have.
 
jvrobert said:
This is just disgusting, these guys are creepy. Did you read the "patent"? Assuming it's the one linked in this thread, it's a joke. I'm not really clear on why they think adding "UV" to some of the components does anything for them, it adds no functionality. It's a total non sequitur. It's like coming up for a patent where you do a bunch of obvious stuff... and paint it PINK!

There is a ridiculous amount of prior art for this. They think they added a bunch of fluff to make it specific enough so that an idiot reading it may think they're actually patenting something new, but they're obviously just using prior art. I hope these scum get run into the ground, and I can only hope nobody with any sense buys any of their products.

Our patent system is just a disgrace.
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Yeah, I was trying to figure out whether or not the patent was saying you had to have a fan with UV coating and cable sleaves with atleast partial UV coating or they were just trying to patent UV coating on PS fans and cable sleaves at the same time.
 
jvrobert said:
Not sure why it would matter. Fact is that performance-pc's had modular power supplies available for sell well before the patent filing date. In addition, I'm sure there were modders out there who did it themselves well before performance-pc's.

Just because you're the first "mainstream PSU company" to do something doesn't mean you can patent it.
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Actually, a lot of people seem to think that this is a patent for simply "modular power supplies". It's not. Ultra patented the modular DC output interface on the housing of the PSU. This does not describe Performance-PC's product AT ALL. This certainly doesn't describe any modder's creation I've seen before and I think I would have heard about some guy cutting a hole in his PSU housing, molding his own plastic interface board, installing connectors and then using modular cables to go from the housing to the peripheral. So when you really think about it, it seems that prior to the patent filing date.. there really wasn't anything that could be considered "modular" as far as what the patent is describing. Right?

ND40oz said:
Yeah, I was trying to figure out whether or not the patent was saying you had to have a fan with UV coating and cable sleaves with atleast partial UV coating or they were just trying to patent UV coating on PS fans and cable sleaves at the same time.
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My take on this is that they were trying to cover all variations. With UV and without, etc. The claims are "or" and not "and" claims, so only one has to suit you. For most modular power supply units on the market, it's claim 4 that's the real stinker. If your cables or fan are UV, then it's 4 & 5 or 4 & 6 or whatever...
 
Why is Ultra the company everyone loves to hate:eek:. It's fairly obvious the claim has merit. $5 says it all gets settled out of court:rolleyes:
 
I have the Ultra X3 1000W PSU.
It works just fine.
I've had a couple conversations with their customer service and they were excellent.

I like the product just fine. If Ultra has a gripe, let the court settle it out. It does not change my PSUs performance on little bit. If indeed all these other companies infringed on Ultra's design patent then shame on them for thinking they could get away with it.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
Yes and apparently you did not since you did not understand what was patented.
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Apparently not. So what exactly is unique about it, considering if you go to the Internet Wayback machine and look at performance-pc's product line prior to the filing date for this particular patent, they had modular power supplies with plug-in cables (yes, DC) that connected to peripherals inside the computer?

Furthermore, what's difficult or highly insightful about "gee, let's make these cables detachable"? Oooh, genius!
 
jvrobert said:
Apparently not. So what exactly is unique about it, considering if you go to the Internet Wayback machine and look at performance-pc's product line prior to the filing date for this particular patent, they had modular power supplies with plug-in cables (yes, DC) that connected to peripherals inside the computer?

Furthermore, what's difficult or highly insightful about "gee, let's make these cables detachable"? Oooh, genius!
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Nothing in a patent says you have to be a genius, or even the first.....you just have to be the first in line at the patent office.
 
jvrobert said:
Apparently not. So what exactly is unique about it, considering if you go to the Internet Wayback machine and look at performance-pc's product line prior to the filing date for this particular patent, they had modular power supplies with plug-in cables (yes, DC) that connected to peripherals inside the computer?
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So why do you refuse to read it and the ITC complaint? It clearly states the patent is the method for making them modular (ie the interface) and variations there of (including coatings, implementations etc). Hank shortened cables, he did not build a modular interface. They are two completely different things which is clear if you read the patent or ITC complaint or both.

Furthermore, what's difficult or highly insightful about "gee, let's make these cables detachable"? Oooh, genius!
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If it is so simple and not insightful why didn't you do it? Further, to be patentable it does NOT have to be difficult or insightful.
 
magoo said:
Nothing in a patent says you have to be a genius, or even the first.....you just have to be the first in line at the patent office.
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Wrong in the United States at least (which is where this lawsuit is being filed). Unlike most other countries, the US operates on a first-to-invent basis, not a first-to-file basis. If somebody else has made the invention prior and can prove it, the patent would be invalidated. And while you don't have to be a genius, it also cannot be something that is obvious to any educated practitioner of the art.

Ultra may well legally have the patent in this case, in that it was indeed novel to practitioners of the art at the time and that they were the first to invent, not merely file, but don't spread misinformation about the US legal system.
 
magoo said:
Nothing in a patent says you have to be a genius, or even the first.....you just have to be the first in line at the patent office.
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Alexander Bell could attest to that (when he was still alive)

I hope they rule the patent as invalid for being too generic. This is the problem with our patent system.
 
dandragonrage said:
hay guys we added an extra connector and some UV cables, pay us for our invention!

it's not even a goddamn invention. They shouldn't have been granted a patent.
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That isn't what it says.

And patents are granted for improvements and extensions of existing products all the time.
 
Seasonic too, I've really liked my S12 550. I think Seasonic makes the Corsair supplies if I'm not mistaken.
 
Rocksta107 said:
Seasonic too, I've really liked my S12 550. I think Seasonic makes the Corsair supplies if I'm not mistaken.
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Seasonic makes the lower-wattage units, and CWT (Channel-Well Technologies) makes the higher-wattage units for Corsair.
 
dandragonrage said:
hay guys we added an extra connector and some UV cables, pay us for our invention!

it's not even a goddamn invention. They shouldn't have been granted a patent.
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Weird. I didn't see any of that in the patent or ITC complaint.
 
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