Litepanels, LTD, a UK company, and Litepanels, Inc., a Los Angeles-based corporation (collectively “Litepanels”), make LED lighting systems for use in film and TV production.Â
Last month Litepanels sued Dot Line Corp. (Dot Line) and Infocus Camera & Imaging, LLC (ICI) in federal court in Tyler, Texas, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,948,823 (‘823 Patent) and 7,604,361 (‘361 Patent) (litepanels_complaint.pdf).Â
The ‘823 Patent is entitled “Wide area lighting apparatus and effects system” and is directed to a camera mountable lighting frame (302) having multiple lamp segments (306) arranged in a radial pattern around a center hole (303). Each lamp segment 306 comprises a plurality of LEDs (305).
The portable frame could be circular (as picture above) or rectangular. When the portable frame is mounted to a movable camera, the frame follows the movements of the camera.
The ‘361 Patent is a continuation-in-part of the ‘823 Patent and is entitled “Versatile lighting apparatus and associated kit.” It is directed to an LED light panel with a self-contained battery unit that provides power to the light elements but not to the camera.
Litepanels previously asserted the ‘823 Patent against Sony, which quickly settled the case about a month after the complaint was filed.