One of our loyal readers sent in a TRIVIA question about camera lens technology. Before going to law school, I spent some time as a consultant for a major lens manufacturer, so this topic is also of interest to me.
Both Philips Electronics and Varioptic have patents on fluid-filled camera lenses. The IP dispute between these two companies will likely become quite hot in the near future. [link, link].
However, neither company has made any public reference to a seminal U.S. Patent that teaches a fluid lens that was patented before World War II (WWII). This patent has no prior art cited against it, has 14 independent claims and no dependent claims.
Contest: Can you find that seminal patent? A quite small non-monetary prize for the first correct answer.
