The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has ruled that two main sections of Lazare Kaplan International Inc.’s patent for laser-inscribing diamonds are invalid, reports National Jeweler, noting that this ruling is the latest twist in LKI’s long-running legal battles over this patent.
In 2014, Tiffany petitioned the USPTO to review LKI’s 2002 gemstone micro-inscribing patent challenging the validity of the patent. Tiffany’s request came amid a long-running legal battle between LKI and PhotoScribe Technologies Inc. over the same technology, explains National Jeweler.
Back I 2006, LKI alleged that PhotoScribe was infringing upon its diamond inscription patent, and the case has seen numerous decisions and appeals over the past 10 years.
Tiffany, which uses PhotoScribe’s technology to etch serial numbers on its diamonds that are invisible to the naked eye, argued that LKI’s patent was invalid because it was ‘obvious’, meaning that a person of “ordinary skill” in the art of micro-inscribing could have combined existing patents and teachings to arrive at the same invention, notes National Jeweler.
