The laser beam recorder is a machine used to create CD and DVD masters from which CDs and DVDs are made.

Around 1994, DMI hired me (DBA Design Science) to develop the control electronics and software for a new LBR.

It is interesting because it requires a fantastic degree of precision and control.

I designed all the control electronics and all the software to control it.

QAV

I came up with a scheme I called "Quantized Angular Velocity" where the recording velocity changes in discrete steps.  The idea was that replacing the analog circuitry with digital circuitry would provide more accurate, repeatable results.

 

The Conflict

Disc Manufacturing, Inc. (DMI) was a major historical American optical disc pressing company with plants in Anaheim, California, and Huntsville, Alabama.

MCA DiscoVision, Inc. was a division of entertainment giant MCA (Music Corporation of America), established in 1969 to develop and sell an optical videodisc system.  DiscoVision titles included films from Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Disney.

The successor to MCA DiscoVision, DiscoVision Associates (DVA), was the result of a partnership between IBM and MCA. It was hoped that the merger would provide the basis for improvement of the quality of DiscoVision pressings, but no appreciable improvement ever took hold.

DiscoVision Associates later evolved into a patent holding company that manages and licenses intellectual property related to LaserDisc, Compact Disc, and optical disc technologies, as well as other non-disc related fields.

In 1989, Pioneer acquired DiscoVision Associates, where it continues to license its technologies independently.

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Around 1997. I helped develop a Laser Beam Recorder for DMI.  This is a machine used for creating masters that would then be used to make molds to produce CDs, DVDs, and LaserDiscs.

I designed all the control electronics and all the software.  Others did the mechanical and optical design.

It required a fantastic degree of precision and control, so I decided that implementing it digitally would make it more repeatable and flexible,

It turned out to work really well, and they were used by two DMI facilities, and sold through third parties.  I don't know what they sold for, but I would guess around $1 million.  There was a lot of technology in that machine.

I considered it a big success, but DiscoVision Associates filed a patent infrigement suit against DMI.  At this time, DiscoVision Associates' main business was suing people.  Optical discs had become big business, and there was a lot of fighting between various factions.  When DVD came out, it degenerated into serious warfare!  As soon as there is money involved, that's when things go awry, and this was big money.

The multi-year litigation between Discovision Associates and Disc Manufacturing, Inc. concluded via a voluntary settlement without a final trial verdict. Before the settlement, the court granted DVA partial summary judgment for patent infringement on seven of eight claim elements, while refusing to dismiss DMI's antitrust counterclaims regarding patent tying and prosecution laches.

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Case Overview: Plaintiff: Discovision Associates (DVA), an optical disc patent-holding subsidiary of Pioneer Electronic Corp. Defendant: Disc Manufacturing, Inc. (DMI), a compact disc replication and manufacturing company. Court and Year: U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, with major rulings issued in 1998 (e.g., 25 F. Supp. 2d 301). Core Issue: DVA alleged that DMI infringed upon its extensive portfolio of optical disc and laser/CD manufacturing patents, while counterclaims and defenses involved issues of patent validity, scope of claims, and antitrust-related defenses like patent tying.

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In DiscoVision Associates v. Disc Manufacturing Inc., the plaintiff alleged that the defendant’s intentional delay in patent prosecution was a form of fraud on the patent office and a violation of the antitrust laws. The district court refused to dismiss the antitrust claim, noting that while the defendant had obtained lawfully issued patents, it was not immune from
antitrust scrutiny of the means by which the defendant obtained those patents and their potential anticompetitive effect
beyond the scope of the patents themselves.

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The Trial

There was a years-long battle over the issue, and it eventually came to federal court in Delaware.  I was a witness for DMI, and it was a very interesting experience, and I learned a lot.

When I got to Delaware to testify in the trial, I discovered the magnitude of the issue.  Both sides had spent a fortune on lawyers and trial.

The two teams took up the whole floor of a large hotel.  Dozens of rooms were filled with "banker's boxes" of documents.  They even had full-time (24 hrs) copier repairmen to sit next to the copy machine in case it broke down!

I don't know what the stakes amounted to in dollars, but probably hundreds of millions.

I suspect that each side spent tens of millions on the trial.

Furthermore, I wonder how I could find out?

The judge in the case was a woman.  My experience in courts is that women make good judges.  It's just like refereeing a fight between 2 six-year-old kids.

I also found out about "expert witnesses".  I didn't know you could make a fortune as a paid "expert."

In court, the opposition will typically ask the witness if they were paid for their testimony.  I guess that's to question their integrity.

When I was asked if I would be paid for my appearance, I replied, "I hope so".  The only payment I got for the trial was for travel expenses and hotel.

But one of the expert witnesses for the opposition claimed he received $600,000 for his testimony! It turns out there is a whole industry of "expert witnesses." that make a fortune.

Here are some video that give a good description of how the CDs and DVDs are made

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Du3cDRGBBVXA&ved=2ahUKEwign8irzvaWAxUJKEQIHV9ICZMQwqsBegQIShAB&usg=AOvVaw2tAw7DEv9ztavoM57UQTRW

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DSEUuSEG7hb4&ved=2ahUKEwign8irzvaWAxUJKEQIHV9ICZMQwqsBegQIRxAB&usg=AOvVaw3HwSiOvotOvHgfJ5g0QgLp

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DFf1QspKnfSs&ved=2ahUKEwign8irzvaWAxUJKEQIHV9ICZMQwqsBegQISxAB&usg=AOvVaw1r6HuTlHP9f9LZLiq3AC4H