Case study: European IP for ground-breaking Solos™ smart glasses

Imagine you are cycling though the Alps, with the wind in your hair and your adrenaline pumping as you head to the top of the col, when you reach a fork in the road and realise that you are not sure which direction to take.

Rather than getting down off your bike and breaking the momentum to consult your map, you now have the possibility to consult the GPS information in the corner of your Solos™ Smart Glasses – the same technology used by USA Cycling and the Olympic track cycling team who won two silver medals in Rio 2016.

 

Having launched the Solos brand and product in the USA, Kopin Corporation turned its attention to the global markets and worked with its US lawyers Hamilton Brook Smith & Reynolds, to extend the protection of their intellectual property in Europe as part of their international patent strategy.

Page White Farrer was called upon to help secure protection for the patent portfolio in Europe.

 

Background

Kopin Corporation was spun out of MIT in 1984, with 30 licensed patents in nanotechnology, and listed on the NASDAQ in 1992. It obtained its first patent on head-mounted display in 1994 and has specialised in developing wearable tech to enhance the experience of computing technology.

 

Solos™ Smart Glasses are designed for the enthusiast and serious cyclists with high-performance in mind. Solos™ focuses on maximizing athletes’ user experience with unobtrusive and seamless real-time feedback while riding without compromising safety, aerodynamics, visibility, or comfort.

These mobile augmented-reality smart glasses integrate the world’s smallest heads-up display and pair it with a smart phone and best-in-class fitness performance tracking apps. In addition to the real-time metrics and navigation features, the Solos™ allows riders to store training data, routes, track performance statistics and improvement. For those that like to communicate their achievements, it also allows the easy data sharing via social media.

 

 

Patent strategy

 

Page White Farrer has worked with Boston-based Hamilton Brook Smith & Reynolds over many years and was appointed to work with them on behalf of Kopin Corporation in securing the protection of their patent portfolio in Europe, where more than 12 million bicycles are manufactured every year and the market grew by over 10% in 2015.

 

How we helped

The team at Page White Farrer is led by Virginia Driver, a specialist in the protection of computer software applications, and includes David Roberts who is an expert in mechanical engineering and design.

Our team deals with all the patent applications in Europe from initial filing, through examination by the European Patent Office before handling any objections or appeals through to the final grant of the patents sought.

With technology of this kind the challenges are to meet the legal requirements for patent protection at the European Patent Office without sacrificing protection for individual components of the glasses. Innovation in the micro-display and the software required specialist understanding what type of protection can be navigated through the challenges of the European Office.