If you run a Thompson patent search, you’ll find many inventions that are, or were protected by a patent by inventors named Thompson, including James and Barry Thompson.

James Thompson’s inventions include pressure-boards and rollers, whereas Barry Thompson’s inventions include circuit boards, laser circuits and methods, and other computer technological processes and methods.

If you need to find prior or current patents that were invented by those named Thompson, the search may produce a significant amount of results. When running a patent search, it is important to know what inventions are already protected by a patent before you submit your patent application.

Remember that when submitting your patent application, even if you didn’t find any prior patents, you are still at risk of rejection if the patent examiner believes that your invention does not meet the requirements.

Helpful Websites

You can visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website. The patents go back to 1976, so anything prior to that will not show up in your search results. However, bibliographic searches can be conducted from 1790 to the current year.

Google offers free patent searches. This search database provides text-searchable ability dating back to 1790. There are several companies that provide search results for worldwide patent searches (for a fee). Such companies include Thompson-Reuters, Delphion, and PatBase.

Patent Infringement

Patent infringement could occur if you use, manufacture, or create a product that is already being protected by a patent. If this happens, you may become victim of a patent infringement suit, which can be lengthy and expensive. Additionally, it could cost you your business and professional reputation.

You could be sued if: [1] you legitimately infringed on a patent; [2] you inadvertently infringed on a patent; [3] you didn’t actually infringe, but the other party wants to bring suit for monetary purposes.

In this type of lawsuit, you are not liable if you didn’t actually infringe on another’s patent rights or if the patent expired or was deemed invalid. Further, you might not be held liable if the plaintiff can’t prove that you knew or had reason to know about the patent.

If you’re being sued for patent infringement, you’ll want to contact a lawyer who can identify your rights and responsibilities. It is not advisable to work pro se (being your own lawyer), as you have less legal resources and less experience handling litigation.

Barry Thompson Patents

Below is a list of Barry Thompson’s most notable patents, most of which involve computer and electronic methods, apparatuses, and display modules.

• Power efficient laser diode driver circuit and method, a power supply controller that can adjust voltage levels of the power supply.

• Transducer measurement, which measures a transducer. An example of a transducer is a translinear proportional-to-absolute-temperature sensor that uses amplifiers. These include pressure sensors, magnetometers, and accelerometers.

• Mobile screening apparatus

• Regenerative power supply system and method, which is comprised of a generator, an electric drive motor, a transmission device, and an energy storage device. The device itself controls the flow of electricity to an electric drive motor.

• Interference reduction for TOF systems

• Systems and methods for network virtualization

• Method and apparatus for scanning and device detection in a communication system

• Method and apparatus for iterative synchronization of two or more electronic devices

• Method of driving an electro-optic display utilizing internal capacitance to smooth a digitally modulated signal

• Matching current source/sink apparatus, which is a method of compensating for capacitance of a programming line of an OLED display.

• Method and apparatus for generation of a system master timebase of a computing device using indirect signaling of timing information.

• Charge equalizing clock driver and other enhancements for time-of-flight depth sensing and other systems.

• Tool for reconfiguring the pins of a tractor trailer electrical connector

• Method and apparatus for medium reservation and medium reservation modification in a communication system.

• Automatic slack adjuster tool

• Gel insoles with lower heel and toe recesses having thin spring walls

• A specific method for feeding livestock, which can be beneficial when an animal is being fed a diet that causes acid conditions on the rumen.

If you need help with running a Thompson patent search you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5-percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law, and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with, or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.